TENTH  REVISED  EDITION 


SOILING 

SOILING  CROPS  &  ENSILAGE-BARN, 
STABLE   and   SILO    CONSTRUCTION 

FRANK    SHERMAN   PEER 


nia 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


COLLEGE    OF    AGRICULTURE, 
State  University,  Lexington,  Ky» 


EXTRACTS  FROM  PRESS  COMMENTS 
ON  REVISED  EDITION 


After  a  careful  examination  we  regard  it  as  one  of  the  most  practi- 
cal  books  on  dairy  feeding  and  stable  management  that  we  have  ever 
read.  We  seldom  give  high  praise  to  any  book  on  agriculture,  but  this 
book  really  seems  to  fill  a  distinct  want.— Rural  New  Yorker. 

It  is  a  very  instructive  and  interesting  story  and  we  wish  every 
farmer  would  get  a  copy  and  read  it,  for  each  of  the  247  pages  contains 
information  that  no  progressive  farmer  can  afford  to  do  without.— 
Indiana  Farmer. 

Meets  a  real  want.  The  whole  thing  is  in  the  highest  degree  practical, 
simple,  and  sure  to  be  useful  — Country  Gentleman. 

It  is  written  in  the  crisp  style  peculiar  to  Mr.  Peer,  and  while  com- 
prehensive  in  scope,  it  has  not  the  tiresome  qualities  of  many  technical 
treatises,  and  the  reader  experiences  a  restful  feeling  while  absorbing  the 
information  so  quaintly  put  together. --Jersey  Bulletin. 

It  is  pre-eminently  the  book  of  the  year.  The  Farmer  does  not 
often  commend  a  book  with  the  same  vigor  as  this,  but  its  merits  are 
apparent  and  its  suggestions  are  served  up  in  attractive  form.  It  should 
be  in  the  hands  of  every  man  contemplating  building.— Maine  Farmer. 

It  is  written  in  an  entertaining  as  well  as  practical  manner.  Reads 
more  like  a  romance  than  a  treatise  on  farm  business.  It  makes  such 
a  combination  of  the  practical  with  the  pleasurable  as  to  quite  charm 
the  reader.— Co-Operative  Farmer. 

No  better  credential  could  be  given  than  to  say  that  the  book  is 
the  result  of  practical  experience.  It  is  throughout  thoroughly  readable 
and  instructive.  The  whole  subject  is  discussed  in  an  able  manner. — 
Live  Stock  Journal,  England. 

An  exceedinginstructive  and  practical  work  of  unusual  interest.  .  .  . 
The  contents  will  bear  and  repay  the  closest  study  because  they  are  at 
once  sound  in  their  information  and  unmistakably  explicit.  —  The  Field, 
London,  Eng 


Mr.  Peer  has  succeeded  in  producing  a  very  readable  boo 
Imparts  much  valuable  information  in  the  same  original,  forcible  and  in- 
teresting style  that  characterizes  all  Mr.  Peer's  writings.— Rider  and 
Driver,  N.  Y 

Mr.  Peer  is  a  practical  man  who  has  made  agriculture  a  study,  and 
by  his  original  and  progressive  ideas  has  placed  our  farming  people 
under  great  obligations. — Newark  Courier, 


Soiling,  Ensilage,  and 
Stable  Construction 


BEING  A  REVISED  EDITION  OF  SOIL- 
ING, SUMMER  AND  WINTER  ;  OR,  THE 
ECONOMY  OF  FEEDING  FARM  STOCK 


FRANK    SHERMAN  JPEER 

Relating  the  experience  of  the  author,  giving  the  latest 

and  most  economical  methods  of  summer  and 

winter  feeding  and  management  of  farm 

stock;  also  the  construction  of  stables 


WITH     ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK : 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR 
MDCCCCVI 


REVISED    EDITION 

Entered,  according  to  an  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1900 

By  FRANK  SHERMAN   PEER 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  Washington,  D.  C. 


COPYRIGHT,  1000,  BY 
FRANK  SHERMAN  PEER 


1    34 


DEDICATION 

To  the  farmers'  sons  of  America  this  book 
is  dedicated,  with  the  best  wishes  of  the 
author,  and  with  the  hope  that  within  its 
pages  they  may  find  encouragement  to 
pursue  agriculture  as  a  business,  instead 
of  leaving  the  farm  for  some  so-called 
higher  pursuit 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


THERE  is  little  need  of  a  formal  introduction  to 
the  subject  of  soiling.  Most  farmers  and  dairymen 
are  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  subject  through 
inquiries  and  articles  that  from  time  to  time  appear 
in  the  agricultural  papers.  To  others  who  may 
chance  to  peruse  these  pages,  I  may  say  that  the 
work  is  designed  to  answer  the  following  perplexing 
questions,  i.e.,  How  can  a  farmer  enrich  his  soil  in 
a  sure  and  economical  manner?  how  supply  his  farm 
stock  with  the  most  nutritious  food  at  the  least  cost? 
how  obtain  a  full  flow  of  milk  from  his  cows  during 
the  entire  season  independently  of  parched  pastures? 
how  increase  the  number  of  farm  stock  or  the  acre- 
age of  the  farm  without  buying  more  land?  how  may 
the  Eastern  farmers  successfully  compete  with  the 
immigrant  farmers  of  the  West? 

An  attempted  solution  to  these  and  kindred  ques- 
tions will  be  found  in  the  following  pages. 

In  relating  my  own  experience  in  conducting 
this  system  of  feeding,  and  the  wonderful  re- 
sults obtained,  I  hope  my  readers  will  not  accuse 
me  of  boasting  of  what  /  have  done,  or  of  what 
/can  do. 


viii      Introduction  to  the  First  Edition. 

Nearly  every  farmer  may  practise  the  system  with 
the  same  or  even  better  results.  Each  year's  ex- 
perience reveals  many  new  advantages  of  the  sys- 
tem. 

I  do  not  pretend  that  my  conclusions  will  be  found 
infallible  under  all  circumstances,  but  I  hope  to  show 
how  the  system  was  applied  to  my  own  farm,  that  the 
reader  may  obtain  a  clear  view  of  its  workings,  and 
be  enabled  to  carry  on  the  system  with  such  altera- 
tions as  the  different  conditions  under  which  he  is 
placed  shall  suggest. 

I  am  not  farming  for  pleasure,  although  I  find  a 
good  deal  of  pleasure  in  farming.  I  follow  farming 
for  my  daily  bread,  and  the  profit  there  is  in  the 
business.  My  farm  operations  are  not  supported 
by  a  profitable  business  or  profession  in  town. 

I  mention  this  that  my  readers  will  clearly  under- 
stand that  although  this  work  contains  some  radical 
departures  from  "General  Farming,"  they  are  not 
to  be  entertained  by  the  experiences  of  a  "fancy 
farmer,"  a  " book  farmer,"  or  a  "city  farmer." 

I  have  no  apology  for  presenting  this  subject  in 
book  form.  I  humbly  acknowledge  that  it  is  not 
written  at  "the  earnest  solicitation  of  numerous 
friends,"  but  because  I  am  very  much  interested  in 
farming  as  a  business  or  profession,  and  I  would  be 
pleased  to  see  more  of  our  intelligent  young  men 
engaged  in  this  pursuit. 

As  a  literary  writer,  I  make  no  pretensions.  If 
this  work  is  well  received,  it  must  be  entirely  on  its 
merits  as  a  record  of  the  personal,  practical  experi- 


Introduction  to  the  First  Edition.      ix 

ence  of  a  farmer;  and  if  the  reader  finds  as  much 
pleasure  in  perusing  these  pages  as  it  has  given  me 
to  write  them,  I  shall  feel  that  my  labor  has  not 
been  spent  in  vain,  nor  the  reader's  attention  claimed 
for  naught. 

MAPLE  LANE  FARM, 

EAST  PALMYRA,  N.  Y.,  1881. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  SECOND  EDITION. 


THE  first  edition  of.  "Soiling,  Summer  and  Win- 
ter "has  been  exhausted  since  1885.  I  have  been 
trying  to  find  time  ever  since  to  go  over  the  ground 
again  and  present  the  work  in  better  form,  but  the 
convenient  season  has  ever  seemed  to  be  to-morrow, 
so  that  between  business  cares  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  thief  of  time  on  the  other,  weeks  have  stolen 
into  months,  and  months  into  years,  leaving  the 
work  unfinished. 

There  was  another  reason  (but  I  never  liked  to  let 
myself  admit  it) .  I  felt  that  my  work  on  soiling  was 
a  little  premature,  and  I  have  been  waiting  for  a 
sign  that  would  indicate  that  it  was  wanted. 

I  published  the  1880  edition  myself,  because  no 
publisher  could  be  found  who  had  the  courage  to 
undertake  it.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Farmers'  Insti- 
tutes were  inaugurated  throughout  the  country,  and 
Experimental  Stations  in  nearly  every  State  are  delv- 
ing into  every  possible  nook  and  corner  in  a  legiti- 
mate strife  among  themselves  to  be  the  first  to  mas- 
ter and  give  to  the  public  the  latest  ideas  in  regard 
to  every  known  subject  pertaining  to  agriculture. 
So  that,  in  a  great  measure,  they  robbed  one  of  that 


Introduction  to  Second  Edition.        xi 

zest  and  force  necessary  to  sit  down  to  a  task  of 
writing  a  book  on  any  agricultural  subject. 

I  was  subjected  to  much  ridicule  for  my  early  en- 
deavors to  introduce  soiling,  which  was  called  "  book 
farming  "  and  "  fancy  farming, "  etc.  And  when,  late 
in  1878,  I  built  a  silo,  and  came  out  strongly  in  favor 
of  ensilage,  it  was  thought  by  many  to  be  the  climax 
of  folly,  while  others  suggested  that  I  "  might  have 
gone  wrong  in  the  upper  story."  In  these  days 
(1875  to  1880)  I  went  about  the  State  visiting  farm- 
ers' clubs,  and  discussing  soiling  and  ensilage.  I 
was  quite  young  at  the  time,  just  out  of  my  teens, 
and  my  views — however  reasonable  they  appeared 
while  I  was  before  my  audience — lost  much  of  their 
force,  I  fear,  on  account  of  my  youthful  appearance. 
However,  I  kept  on  talking  soiling,  in  season  and 
out,  until  the  Farmers'  Institutes  were  established 
and  ensilage  at  least  became  a  popular  theme. 

Ensilage  has  produced  quite  a  revolution  in  farm- 
ing, but  that  is  only  "winter  soiling,"  and  has  not 
accomplished  half  of  what  may  be  done  by  pursuing 
the  method  all  the  year  round,  for,  as  I  have  always 
claimed,  summer  soiling  has  many  advantages  over 
winter  soiling,  as  will  be  shown  further  on,  so  that, 
although  ensilage  has  made  such  wonderful  strides, 
it  by  no  means  represents  the  best  half  of  the  sys- 
tem. 

"Why  then,"  it  may  be  asked,  "has  ensilage  pre- 
ceded soiling?"  Principally,  I  believe,  because  it 
was  a  new  and  startling  discovery,  and  required  an 
outlay  of  capital  to  begin  with.  Soon  after  ensilage 


xii       Introduction  to  Second  Edition. 

made  its  appearance,  manufacturers  of  feed  cutters 
sent  catalogues  and  circulars  (advertising  their  ma- 
chines) broadcast  over  the  country,  agents  can- 
vassed towns,  exhibited  their  machines  at  fairs,  and 
told  exaggerated  stories  of  the  advantages  to  be 
gained  by  ensilaging  corn  fodder.  They  said  that 
ensilage  was  a  good  thing,  and  that  their  particular 
machine  was  the  only  thing.  Ensilage  being  a  new 
departure,  a  new  discovery,  the  agricultural  papers 
were  full  of  it,  and  later  it  became  a  popular  theme 
for  discussion  at  the  Farmers'  Institutes,  where  it 
was  listened  to  because  it  was  new  and  sensational. 

Soiling,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  question  that 
every  farmer  was  familiar  with.  Few  could  be  found 
but  that  had  practised  it  to  the  extent  of  cutting 
clover  green,  and  feeding  it  to  their  workhorses  in 
the  barns,  or  had  sown  a  patch  of  corn  for  their  cows 
to  be  fed  over  the  fence  in  the  pasture  field  to  help 
out  the  pasture  in  a  dry  season.  In  doing  this  they 
never  discovered  anything  very  wonderful,  or  strik- 
ing, or  sensational,  as  was  the  case  in  the  introduc- 
tion of  ensilage. 

No  one  talked  soiling,  and  altogether  it  had  little 
to  force  itself  upon  the  attention  of  the  public. 

Soiling  has  been  unfortunate  in  not  being  properly 
introduced.  No  one  in  all  the  country  has  a  far- 
thing to  gain  out  of  the  farmer  by  advocating  the 
system  or  encouraging  its  adoption. 

I  have  lived  long  enough  to  discover  that  people 
will  listen  to  good  advice,  and  admit  that  it  is  good 
advice,  but  if  they  can  obtain  it  for  nothing,  it  is 


Introduction  to  Second  Edition,      xiii 

seldom  appreciated,  and  rarely  made  use  of.  I 
believe  that  if  it  required  an  investment  of  a  thou- 
sand dollars  in  patent  machinery,  the  soiling  system 
would  long  ago  have  been  adopted  on  thousands  of 
farms,  where  to-day  it  is  not  practised  at  all,  or  only 
done  by  halves.  People  appreciate  everything  by 
what  it  costs. 

Soiling  costs  absolutely  nothing  by  way  of  new 
machinery  or  buildings,  other  than  can  be  found  on 
any  well-equipped  farm.  I  repeat  that  ensilage — 
winter  soiling — has  produced  quite  a  revolution  in 
agriculture,  but  summer  soiling  is  as  much  more 
desirable  and  beneficial  than  winter  soiling  or  en- 
silage as  ensilage  is  better  and  more  economical 
than  hay  and  dried  cornstalks. 

Another  hindrance  in  America  to  the  adoption  of 
soiling  is  that  our  farms,  as  a  rule,  are  too  large, 
and  the  rather  mistaken  notion  that  if  a  person  can 
make  money  on  a  hundred  acres,  he  can  make  seven 
times  as  much  on  seven  hundred  acres.  The  farm- 
ers and  dairymen  with  small  farms  will  be  more 
easily  convinced  of  the  practicability  of  soiling  than 
the  owners  of  large  farms.  Nevertheless,  soiling  is 
coming.  I  have  watched  its  advancement  with 
great  interest,  although  it  has  not  yet  become  a  fash- 
ionable question  for  discussion  at  Farmers'  Insti- 
tutes; and  although  the  experimental  stations  have 
hardly  touched  upon  it,  there  are  unmistakable 
signs  that  farmers  of  the  Eastern  States  are  ready 
for  it.  Last  year  I  had  the  pleasure  of  attending 
quite  a  number  of  Farmers'  Institutes  in  different 


xiv      Introduction  to  Second  Edition. 

parts  of  the  State,  and  I  noticed  there  was  hardly  a 
question  box  opened  but  that  contained  one  or  more 
questions  bearing  directly  on  the  subject. 

I  came  home  from  attending  these  meetings,  and 
have  since  taken  up  the  pen  with  renewed  courage, 
and  feel  sure  that  now  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of 
telling  the  good  news  to  thousands  who,  a  few  years 
ago,  had  little  or  no  interest  in  the  subject. 

In  revising  this  work,  I  have  made  but  little  al- 
teration in  the  text  and  main  features  of  the  first 
edition.  I  am  able,  however,  to  bring  to  this  work 
more  extensive  experience  with  certain  soiling  crops, 
which  at  that  time  I  knew  little  about.  I  refer  to 
sorghum  and  lucern  for  cattle  and  rape  for  sheep. 
These  I  have  enlarged  upon  considerably  also  a  few 
new  plants  are  mentioned,  such  as  crimson  clover, 
etc. 

In  winter  soiling  the  principal  changes  are  in 
handling  the  crop  and  the  construction  of  the  silo. 

I  believe  I  have  given  due  credit  to  the  agricul- 
tural press  and  agricultural  writers  whom  I  have 
freely  called  upon  throughout  the  work. 

I  have  found  that  re-writing  a  book  is  a  more 
difficult  task  than  producing  the  original.  I  have 
been  obliged  to  do  this  work  at  odd  times  while 
travelling  by  rail,  stopping  at  uncomfortable  hotels, 
or  while  making  a  winter's  trip  across  the  Atlantic. 
I  feel,  therefore,  as  the  manuscript  leaves  my  hand, 
that  it  somewhat  resembles  a  clock  that  the  great 
temperance  lecturer,  John  B.  Gough,  was  fond  of 
telling  about,  to  the  effect  that  when  its  hands 


Introduction  to  Second  Edition.       xv 

pointed  to  twenty-five  minutes  past  four,  and  it 
struck  seven,  he  knew  it  was  just  one  o'clock.  So 
with  this  work,  it  matters  little  how  the  hands  point 
or  how  it  strikes,  if  you  only  understand  that  it  al- 
ways strikes  for  soiling. 

I  hope  this  work  will  prove  a  handbook  and  guide 
to  soiling.  I  have  dwelt  quite  at  length  upon  sub- 
jects leading  up  to  the  work,  that  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  system  and  its  advantages  may  be 
firmly  established.  This  I  hold  to  be  more  essential 
than  the  methods  of  soiling  themselves,  because  if 
the  reader  has  a  foundation  that  is  safe  and  to  which 
he  can  always  return,  although  the  conditions  under 
which  he  may  find  himself  may  differ  materially 
from  my  own,  he  will  be  able  to  cut  a  new  line  for 
himself. 

This  work  is,  so  far  as  the  details  are  concerned, 
but  a  row  of  blazed  trees  through  the  forest.  My 
effort  has  been,  therefore,  more  to  present  the  prin- 
ciples and  advantages  of  the  soiling  system  so  they 
shall  be  clear,  unmistakable,  and  undeniable,  and  if 
I  shall  be  so  fortunate  as  to  accomplish  this  in  the 
following  pages  and  impart  to  my  reader  the  will, 
my  purpose  shall  have  been  accomplished,  and  his 
own  good  judgment  may  be  depended  upon  to  find 
the  way.  In  that  case  he  may  make  mistakes  and 
meet  with  disappointments.  He  may  stumble  and 
even  fall,  but  in  getting  up  he  will  always  be  getting 
on  in  the  right  direction. 

Many  have  started  soiling,  but  in  a  half-hearted 
way,  and  have  given  it  up  on  account  of  some  little 


xvi      Introduction  to  Second  Edition. 

hitch  in  the  management.  They  have  become  dis- 
couraged simply  because  they  failed  to  see  the  great 
benefits  to  be  gained.  Others  have  tried  partial 
soiling;  in  this  they  have  experienced  nearly  all  the 
disadvantages  and  not  over  a  quarter  of  the  benefits. 
Others  are  convinced  that  it  is  the  thing  to  do,  but 
are  afraid  of  what  their  neighbors  will  say  if  they 
should  branch  out  in  any  new  line.  I  have  been 
through  all  this ;  the  lions  in  the  way  are  not  half  as 
ferocious  as  they  look  at  a  distance,  and  although 
there  is  always  a  rod  in  pickle  for  any  man  who 
would  be  wiser  than  his  generation,  the  reward  is 
more  than  ample  compensation  for  all  such  cuts. 
"  He  laughs  best,  who  laughs  last." 

SQUAWKIE  HILL  FARM, 

MX.  MORRIS,  N.  Y.,  1899. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

DEDICATION,           v 

INTRODUCTION  TO  FIRST  EDITION           ,        .        .        .        .  vii 

INTRODUCTION  TO  SECOND  EDITION       .  x 

CHAPTER  I. 
OUR  SOILS. 

Farming  on  an  Exhausted  Soil,            .        .        .        .  2 

Farming  on  Productive  Soil,          .....  3 

Farming  on  Government  Lands 4 

CHAPTER  II. 
OUR  PLANTS. 

How  to  Feed  Them 8 

Comparative  Tables 12 

Barn-yard  Manure, 13 

Green  Manure, 17 

Liquid  Manure, •        •        .  22 

Saving  Manure  (Plaster) ,  .        .        .        .        .25 

Commercial  Fertilizer, 25 

Oil  Cake  and  Cotton-Seed  Meal 30 

CHAPTER  III. 
OUR  ANIMALS. 

How  to  Feed  Them  Economically,       .        .        .        .33 

The  Cow  as  a  Machine, 33 

When  Insufficiently  Fed, 35 

CHAPTER  IV. 
SOILING. 

My  First  Lesson  in  Agriculture,  .        .        .        .        .38 

How  I  Happened  to  Adopt  Soiling,      ....  44 


xviii  Contents. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  V. 
ADVANTAGES  OF  SOILING. 

Saving  of  Land,     ........  49 

Saving  of  Fences, 54 

Saving  of  Food,      .        . 56 

Better  Condition  and  Greater  Comfort  of  Farm  Stock,  58 

Greater  Production  of  Beef,  Milk,  and  Butter,    .        .  63 

The  Increased  Quantity  and  Quality  of  Manure,        .  68 
The  Increased  Productiveness  of  the  Soil,  .        .        .69 

The  Increased  Acreage, 69 

CHAPTER  VI. 
PARTIAL  SOILING. 

Inconvenience  of, 76 

Objections  to, 77 

CHAPTER  VII. 

OBJECTIONS  TO  SOILING. 

Extra  Labor, 80 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

SOILING  VERSUS  PASTURING. 

Experimental  Reports 85 

CHAPTER  IX 

ROTATION  OF  SOILING  CROPS. 

Laying  Out  the  Work 89 

Crops  for  June, 90 

Crops  for  July,        . 92 

Crops  for  August 93 

Crops  for  September  and  October,        .        .        .        .93 

CHAPTER  X. 

CUTTING  AND  GATHERING  THE  CROPS. 

Necessary  Tools,  Etc 97 

Delivering  to  Barn,        .......    98 


Contents.  xix 


Feeding  ..........    9» 

Caution  in  Feeding  .....        .        •        •     99 

Manner  of  Feeding,        .......  100 

CHAPTER  XI. 

BARN  CONSTRUCTION. 

General  Plan,          ........  i<>3 

Objections  to  Masonry  Basements  .....  105 

Ventilation,     ...        ......  ™9 

Water,  -  ..........  *l6 

Handling  the  Manure,   .......  I21 

Manure  Shed,          ......  .      .        .126 

Liquid  Manure,      ........  I27 

The  Mangers,          ........  I28 

Cattle  Ties,     ....       .....  I31 

CHAPTER  XII. 

STABLE  MANAGEMENT. 

In  Winter  ..........  134 

In  Summer,     .        ........  136 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

SOILING  CROPS  .........        • 

Rye,        ..........  137 

Wheat  ...........  '38 

Barley,     ...        .......  138 

Oats  and  Peas  .........  139 

Corn  ...........  141 

Sorghum,         .........  144 

Sorghum  Bulletin  Reports  .......  146 

Non-Saccharine  Sorghums,    ......  148 

Kaffir  Corn,     ......        ...  149 

Millet  ...........  152 

Clover  ...........  153 

Lucern,    ..........  J54 


xx  Contents. 

PAGE 

Lucern  Bulletin  Reports 156 

Crimson  Clover, 164 

Cow  Peas, 168 

Soja  Bean, 170 

Prickly  Comfrey, 171 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
SOILING  SHEEP. 

The  Advantages 172 

The  Results, 179 

CHAPTER  XV. 

SOILING  CROPS  FOR  SHEEP. 

Vetches, 181 

Rape 182 

Turnips, 187 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

PORTABLE  FENCING. 

Woven  Wire, 188 

Wooden  Panels, 188 

Hurdles, 189 

Feeding  Racks 190 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

MANNER  OF  SOILING  SHEEP. 

Laying  Out  the  Work,   .......  191 

Permanent  Pasture, 294 

Feeding 196 

Rotation  of  Crops, 198 

CHAPTER  XVIII 
SOILING  HORSES. 

Brood  Mares  and  Colts, 200 


Contents.  xxi 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

WINTER  SOILING  (ENSILAGE).  PAGE 

History, 204 

Ensilage  vs.  Cured  Fodder, 208 

Palatability,    .        .        .        » 210 

Ensilage  vs.  Hay, 210 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  SILO. 

How  Large  to  Build, 215 

Where  to  Build 216 

How  to  Build, 217 

General  Plan  of  Barn  and  Stable,         ....  222 

Stacking  Ensilage, 224 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
GROWING  ENSILAGE. 

Amount  of  Land  Required, 226 

Preparing  the  Ground, 226 

Variety  of  Corn 227 

Harvesting, 227 

Filling  the  Silo,      ..„.„...  229 

Power,      .  230 

Pressing 230 

Time  to  Harvest,    .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .232 

Covering, 233 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

FEEDING  ENSILAGE. 

Amount  of  Ration, 235 

Cost  of  Production, 237 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

SOILING  -us.  ENSILAGE. 

Comparative  Value, 239 


xxii  Contents. 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 
CONCLUSION.  PAGE 

System, „        .  241 

Education, 244 

Farmer's  Sons, 247 


SOILING,  ENSILAGE,   AND  STABLE 
CONSTRUCTION. 


CHAPTER    I. 
OUR  SOILS. 

THE  great  problem  of  feeding  and  clothing  the 
millions  depends  upon  the  success  of  agriculture. 
The  day  has  gone  by,  in  the  Eastern  States  at  least, 
when  a  man  can  "farm  it,"  because  he  does  not 
know  enough  to  do  anything  else.  There  is  no 
business  or  profession  in  which  a  man  is  obliged  to 
have  such  a  diversity  of  knowledge  as  in  farming. 
Every  day  brings  him  face  to  face  with  widely  dif- 
ferent questions.  There  are  his  cows,  their  man- 
agement, breeding,  care,  feeding,  the  disposal  of 
their  product.  Likewise  his  sheep,  horses,  swine, 
poultry,  bees.  Then  there  are  his  fruit  trees,  dif- 
ferent varieties,  requiring  special  care  and  attention, 
and  special  knowledge.  There  is,  as  I  said  before, 
not  a  trade  or  profession  requiring  such  a  widely  di- 
versified knowledge  as  general  farming. 

Our  predecessors  who,  through  ignorance,  robbed 
the  soil  of  its  fertility,  left  us  little — in  these  days  of 
keen  competition — but  a  legacy  of  unprofitable  labor. 
We  ought  to  profit  by  their  mistakes,  and  find  some 
way,  if  possible,  to  make  our  land  more  productive. 
i 


2  Soiling. 

Any  fool  can  rob  the  soil  of  its  fertility,  but  it  takes 
a  wise  man,  a  professional  agriculturist,  to  win  it 
back  to  productiveness.  If  we  do  not  succeed  in 
doing  this,  we  shall  leave  to  our  children  a  legacy 
which  they  will  spurn,  instead  of  one  they  could 
receive  with  rejoicing,  and  that  one  must  be  capable 
of  supplying  their  increasing  numbers  and  their  in- 
creasing wants. 

FARMING  ON  AN  EXHAUSTED  SOIL.* 

I  regret  to  say  that  the  history  of  agriculture  in 
America  is  any  but  one  to  which  we  may  point  with 
pride.  What,  may  I  ask,  has  become  of  the  many 
farmers  throughout  the  New  England  States  who 
once  lived  comfortably,  if  not  luxuriously?  Why 
are  their  farms  deserted,  their  houses  unoccupied? 
We  have  not  far  to  look  for  the  answer— the  fertility 
of  the  soil  has  been  exhausted,  sold  in  the  markets 
of  New  York  and  Boston  by  the  pound,  by  the  bushel, 
and  by  the  ton.  Their  owners,  failing  to  find  their 
toil  longer  remunerative,  have  gone  West,  many  of 
them,  where  I  presume  they  have  gone  on  systemat- 
ically robbing  the  soil,  leaving  to  their  descendants 
a  heritage  of  unremitting  toil.  Still  more  lament- 
able is  the  condition  of  thousands  of  farms  in  Vir- 
ginia and  other  parts  of  the  sunny  South.  Here, 
but  a  few  years  ago,  lived  a  people  who  boasted  of 
their  wealth,  their  refinement,  their  culture,  and 
their  chivalry.  Why  are  their  once  beautiful  fields 

*  Extract  from  an  address  delivered  by  the  author  at  Albany, 
N.  Y.T  before  the  County  Agricultural  Society  in  1890. 


Our  Soils  3 

now  fenceless  and  deserted?  The  land  remains,  the 
climate  remains,  the  slaves  remain,  but  the  owners 
are  not.  The  fertility  of  the  soil  went  before  them; 
they  baled  it  with  their  cotton,  barreled  it  with  their 
sugar,  until  naught  remains  but  the  barren  soil. 

A  few  years  ago  the  term  "  out  West "  was  synon- 
ymous with  bounty  and  fertility.  We  were  told  that 
one  had  but  to  "  tickle  the  soil  with  a  hoe,  and  it 
laughed  a  harvest."  All  this  has  changed.  Their 
average  yield  per  acre  during  the  last  ten  years  has 
declined  twenty-five  per  cent. 

FARMING  ON  PRODUCTIVE  SOIL. 

Happily,  however,  this  state  of  things,  with  a  prop- 
er knowledge  of  agriculture,  is  unnecessary.  There 
is  a  way,  not  only  to  maintain  the  fertility  of  the  soil^ 
but  to  increase  it.  England  has  been  under  the  plo\\. 
for  centuries,  still  her  average  yield  of  wheat  has  in, 
creased  to  over  thirty-one  bushels  per  acre,  while  the 
average  yield  in  this  country  has  steadily  declined 
until  it  is  only  about  thirteen  bushels  per  acre. 
China,  one  of  the  oldest  countries  in  the  world  hac- 
increased  the  agricultural  resources  of  the  empire 
to  keep  pace  with  the  rapidly  increasing  population. 
It  is  a  fact  that  the  heathen  Chinee  knows  bettei 
than  we  how  to  preserve  and  increase  the  fertility 
of  the  soil.  If  America  would  close  her  eastern 
gates  to  emigrants  who  come  here  to  rob  our  soil, 
and  let  a  few  Chinamen  farmers  in  at  the  western 
gate,  we  might  learn  some  valuable  lessons  iu  fann- 
ing. Fertility  means  prosperity. 


4  Soiling. 

There  is  not  a  fertile  spot  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
but  that  is  a  prosperous  one  and  a  desirable  one  in 
which  to  live. 

THE  CONDITION  OF  FARMING  AT  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 

The  problem  that  confronts  the  present-day  farmer 
is  how  to  compete  with  the  foreigners  who  come  to 
this  country  annually  by  the  tens  of  thousands,  and 
who,  on  their  arrival,  our  Government  sets  up  in 
the  farming  business,  offering  to  each  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land.  The  only  alternative  we 
have  in  competing  with  these  Government  farmers  is 
to  do  one  of  two  things.  We  must  either  get  down 
to  their  level,  and  work  as  they  work,  our  wives  and 
children  constituting  our  hired  help  on  the  farm 
and  in  the  house,  live  as  they  live,  half  fed  and  half 
clothed,  go  without  books  and  papers,  without  recre- 
ation for  ourselves  or  an  education  for  our  children. 
That  is  one  way,  but  even  then  we  cannot  hope  to 
compete  with  them  on  farms  that  cost  us  a  hundred 
dollars  an  acre,  and  on  which  we  are  taxed  to  sup- 
port all  sorts  of  charitable  institutions,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  (as  in  this  State)  building  state  capitols  and 
digging  canals  to  benefit  the  adopted  children  of  our 
Government,  while  at  the  same  time  they  have  their 
farms  given  to  them. 

FARMING  ON  GOVERNMENT  LANDS. 

A  foreigner  comes  to  this  country  with  money 
enough  to  pay  his  fare  to  some  of  the  Western 
States.  Uncle  Sam  gives  him  a  farm,  then  he  finds 


Our  Soils.  5 

plenty  of  men  ready  to  take  a  mortgage  on  it  for 
enough  to  enable  him  to  purchase  the  necessary 
tools,  and  there  you  see  him  a  full-fledged  American 
farmer.  It  is,  indeed,  a  most  serious  predicament  in 
which  the  public  land  policy  of  our  Government  has 
placed  the  farmers  of  the  Eastern  States.  They  are 
not  only  made  to  sell  their  products  at  cost  and  less, 
but  their  lands  have  depreciated  in  value  fifty  to 
seventy-five  per  cent.,  until  many  farmers  in  the 
Eastern  States  have  been  driven  to  bankruptcy,  all 
for  the  sake  of  keeping  up  that  boastful,  useless, 
wasteful  practice  by  the  Government  "  that  Uncle 
Sam  is  rich  enough  to  give  us  all  a  farm,"  and  of 
setting  up  thousands  of  foreigners  annually  in  the 
farming  business  until  competition  is  so  keen  that 
there  is  nothing  left  the  farmers  in  the  older  States 
but  unremitting  toil.  Their  sons  and  daughters  are 
thereby  driven  from  the  farm,  and  their  places  are 
being  filled  by  foreigners,  until  we  are  fast  becom- 
ing reduced  to  the  condition  of  the  peasant  farmer 
of  the  old  world.  Farmers  they  are  not.  They  are, 
more  properly  speaking,  a  lot  of  land  pirates. 

They  have  a  good  farm  given  them,  and  imme- 
diately they  begin  to  live  on  its  fertility  like  a  lot  of 
highwaymen.  Have  I  overdrawn  the  picture?  I 
wish  you  might  say  I  had.  If  you  think  so,  look 
about  and  see  how  many  one  hundred,  one  hundred 
and  fifty,  or  two  hundred  acre  farms  there  are  in 
your  county,  where  the  hired  man  gets  about  all 
the  yearly  profits,  while  the  owner,  with  a  ten  or 
twenty  thousand  dollar  investment,  and  his  wife  as 


6  Soiling. 

well,  work  for  their  board  and  clothes.  Farmers 
themselves  are  largely  to  blame  for  this  state  of 
things.  They  should  demand  through  their  repre- 
sentatives at  Washington  that  the  Government  put 
a  stop  to  the  giving  away  any  more  of  the  public 
domain,  until  there  is  a  demand  for  it  at  $10  or  $15 
per  acre. 

No  other  business  men  would  put  up  with  such  an 
infringement.  The  United  Workmen  said  prison 
labor  must  cease,  because  the  State  was  setting  up 
laborers  in  competition  with  them,  which  it  had  no 
right  to  do,  and  prison  labor  ceased.  The  United 
Workmen  said  to  the  United  States  Government, 
"  Put  a  stop  to  the  contract  laborers  coming  to  this 
country  to  compete  with  us,"  and  the  law  was 
passed.  If  an  immigrant  is  engaged  to  come  to  this 
country  to  dig  a  sewer,  the  Government  at  Wash- 
ington sends  him  back  to  the  country  from  which  he 
came.  The  same  United  States  Government  says  to 
the  same  immigrant  and  to  every  other  foreigner, 
"  You  come  over  here,  and  Uncle  Sam  will  give  you 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land ;  that  is  to  say, 
will  set  you  up  in  the  farming  business." 

"  Come  from  any  nation, 
Come  from  any  way. 
Come  along,  come  along, 
Don't  be  alarmed : 
For  Uncle  Sam  is  rich  enough 
To  give  you  all  a  farm." 

So  goes  the  old  song.  When  the  country  was 
new,  this  could  be  done  without  injury  to  any  one. 


Our  Soils.  7 

But  that  day  has  long  since  passed.  These  Govern- 
ment farmers  have  increased  so  rapidly  that  agricul- 
ture in  the  Eastern  States  has  been  reduced  nearly 
to  a  level  with  immigrant  farming. 

This,  in  short,  is  the  present  condition  of  agricul- 
ture in  the  Eastern  States.  There  i»  left  us  but  one 
alternative,  either  to  live  as  the  immigrant  farmers 
live,  work  as  they  work,  or  to  cheapen  our  produc- 
tion by  making  one  acre  produce  what  now  comes 
from  four  or  five. 

I  offer  you  this  solution :  I  bring  you  in  this  volume 
a  ray  of  hope.  Try  soiling. 


CHAPTER  II. 

OUR  PLANTS. 

How  TO  FEED  THEM. 

OUR  plants,  like  our  animals,  live,  feed,  grow,  and 
die.  It  is  only  by  feeding  them  alike  liberally  that 
we  can  hope  to  make  them  produce  bountifully. 

Until  a  person  comes  to  consider  his  growing 
plants  as  if  they  were  his  growing  animals,  claiming 
his  care  and  attention,  and  looking  to  him  to  supply 
them,  largely,  with  the  food  they  must  consume, 
then,  and  not  till  then,  is  he  in  possession  of  the  prin- 
ciples that  constitute  successful  farming.  At  first 
glance  it  would  seem  that  the  above  statement  was 
so  self-evident  that  there  was  little  use  of  mention- 
ing it,  but  when  we  look  about  a  little  and  notice 
the  way  that  many  farmers  starve  their  growing 
plants,  even  when  they  do  not  starve  their  cattle,  it 
shows  that  they  have  never  looked  at  their  growing 
plants  in  this  light. 

What  has  this  to  do  with  soiling?  It  is  the  princi- 
pal thing,  as  a  celebrated  English  general-  once  said 
in  reply  to  the  War  Department,  which  said  to  him : 
"  General,  it  seems  to  the  War  Department  that 
the  thing  that  most  concerned  you  in  India  was  the 
growing  of  forage  for  bullocks. "  "Yes,  sir;  that's 


Our  Plants.  9 

the  principal  thing  in  carrying  on  a  successful  war- 
fare in  India  or  any  other  country.  If  we  have  the 
forage,  we  shall  have  the  bullocks ;  if  we  have  the 
bullocks,  we  shall  be  able  to  support  the  men,  and 
if  our  men  are  well  supported,  we  shall  have  no 
trouble  to  conquer  the  enemy."  That's  the  whole 
story.  If  we  will  give  our  greatest  concern  to  our 
growing  plants,  we  need  not  worry  ourselves  about 
the  rest.  The  animals  to  eat  it  will  come  along 
easily  enough.  If  you  see  it  in  that  light,  you  will 
find,  by  the  adoption  of  the  soiling  system,  that  you 
are  able  to  provide  an  abundance  of  food  for  your 
growing  plants  in  a  sure  and  economical  way,  i.e., 
by  the  greater  production  of  barnyard  manure, 
plowing  under  green  crops  for  manure,  soiling  your 
plants  as  well  as  your  animals.  But  before  we  pro- 
ceed to  discuss  the  value  of  barnyard,  liquid  and 
green  manuring  as  compared  with  commercial  fer- 
tilizer, let  us  first  consider  the  comparative  value  of 
the  ordinary  grain  and  forage  crops,  both  as  a  for- 
age (manure)  for  our  plants  and  as  feed  for  our  ani- 
mals. This  will  help  to  explain  some  important 
questions  in  regard  to  producing  the  most  economi- 
cal plant  food  and  clinch  several  strong  arguments 
in  favor  of  soiling. 

"Good  farming,"  says  Lockhardt,  "consists  in 
taking  large  crops  from  the  soil,  while  at  the  same 
time  you  leave  the  soil  in  better  condition  for  suc- 
ceeding crops. "  This  strikes  me  as  being  the  best 
definition  of  what  constitutes  good  farming  I  have 
ever  seen.  It  is  the  very  science  of  farming. 


I  o  Soiling. 

Good  crops  make  good  manure,  good  manure  pro- 
duces good  crops. 

The  value  of  grain  and  forage  crops  for  plant 
food  consists  in  the  amount  of  nitrogen,  phosphoric 
acid,  and  potash  that  they  contain,  while  the  value 
of  forage  crops  and  grains  for  animal  food  depends 
chiefly  upon  the  amount  of  albuminoids,  carbo- 
hydrates and  fat  they  contain. 

Animals,  in  the  consumption  of  foods,  take  from 
them  but  a  small  proportion  of  their  value  for  plant 
food,  while  the  plants  consume  little  or  none  of  the 
elements  that  the  animals  require.  Thus,  if  a  ton  of 
feed,  say  cotton-seed  meal,  should  be  plowed  under 
as  a  fertilizer,  as  is  often  done  in  the  Southern 
States,  it  would  be  of  no  more  value  to  the  land  than 
if  it  had  been  first  fed  to  the  stock,  providing  none 
of  its  value  as  a  plant  food  had  been  allowed  to  waste 
in  the  manure  pile.  Some  plants  or  grains  are  very 
rich  or  valuable  as  plant  food,  while  others  are  richer 
in  animal  food,  and  again  others  are  valuable  for  both 
purposes. 

The  following  tables  will  furnish  the  reader  some 
curious  and  interesting  facts,  and  some  information 
which  will  assist  him,  it  is  hoped,  in  making  a  most 
economical  selection. 

The  analysis  from  which  the  values  of  the  differ- 
ent foods  are  estimated  was  taken  from  the  work  of 
Dr.  Emil  Wolff  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Agricul- 
ture, Wurtemburg,  Germany.  I  believe  these  ex- 
tended tables,  as  prepared  by  myself,  were  the 
first  of  the  kind  to  appear  in  print  in  this  coun- 


Our  Plants.  II 

try.  They  represent  the  average  results  of  numer- 
ous analyses,  and  are  sufficiently  accurate  for  ail 
practical  purposes.  The  original  analysis  repre- 
sented only  the  comparative  proportions  of  differ- 
ent foods  as  given  in  100  and  1,000  Ib.  With  these 
figures  as  a  basis,  I  have  estimated  the  number  of 
parts  or  pounds  found  in  one  ton  (2,000  Ib.)  and 
computed  the  animal  food  value  per  ton,  estimating 
albuminoids  at  $4,  carbohydrates  at  80  cents,  fat  at 
$4  per  hundred  pounds. 

These  estimated  values  are  obtained  from  the 
average  prices  of  the  different  grains  in  market,  but 
as  the  prices  vary  in  different  localities  and  in  dif- 
ferent seasons,  they  cannot  be  said  to  be  absolutely 
correct  at  all  times.  But  they  may  serve  to  show 
the  relative  values  of  the  different  kinds  of  feed  and 
forage.  For  instance,  if  the  value  of  any  one  article 
is  too  high  or  too  low,  then  all  the  others  are  corre- 
spondingly so. 

In  calculating  the  value  of  the  different  grains 
and  forage  crops  as  plant  food,  I  have  taken  the 
market  price  of  nitrogen  a'c.  15  cents,  phosphoric 
acid  at  6  cents,  and  potash  at  5  cents  per  pound.* 

*  These  estimates  were  made  for  the  first  edition.  At  the 
present  time,  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid,  and  potash  can  be 
bought  in  certain  forms  for  about  one  cent  cheaper  per  pound. 


12 


Soiling. 


Grains. 

POUNDS  OF 
ANIMAL  FOOD 
PER  TON. 

Value  as 
Feed  Per  Ton. 

POUNDS 
OF  PLANT  FOOD 
PER  TON. 

Value  as  Ma- 
nure Per  Ton.  | 

is 

<E 

•e-o 
u£ 

i 

|j 

jN 

IX  •< 

3 

Field  beans  

Sio 
448 
SSo 

200 
260 

910 
1,046 
844 
1,360 

?lfi 

40 

5° 
54 
140 

$29.21 
27.38 
30.91 

81.6 
71.6 
88.0 

17.2 
17.2 

20.0 
^ 

26.2 
19.6 

i6.a 
10.6 

$.8.04 
15.78 
19.04 

*$ 

Field  peas  
Tares  (vetches)  
Indian  corn  
Wheat  
Rye  

Barley  
Oats  
Buckwheat  

1  80 

ll'ft 
1,192 

So 
5° 

20.25 
18.64 

32.0 

2389;84 

15-4 
12.4 
II.4 

ft 
54 

K 

6-43 

Ground  Feed  and 
Refuse. 

POUNDS  OF 
ANIMAL  FOOD 
PER  TON. 

rf 

K 
1 

POUNDS 
OF  PLANT  FOOD 
PER  TON. 

H 

5I 

3  jj 

<  1 

II 

1 

li 

S3 

£3 

1 

660 
566 

200 
460 
08 
280 
290 
566 

|26 
1,360 
894 

1,000 

1,070 

670 

324 

140 
50 

376 

£ 

$42.66 
37-24 
24.48 
27-55 
6-97 

S3 

35-20 

98.0 

90.6 

32.0 
73.6 
15.6 
44.8 
46.4 
97.0 

56.2 
32-2 

ii.  8 
36.0 

8.2 

54-6 
68.6 
35-4 

29.2 
24.8 
7-4 
41.2 

28^6 
38.6 
24.8 

$2300 

20  40 
7..6 
17.80 
348 
12.28 

si 

Linseed  meal  

Brewer's  grains  
Wheat  bran  

Dry  Forage. 
(Hay  and  Straw.) 

POUNDS  OF 
ANIMAL  FOOD 
PER  TON. 

Sl 
P 
1 

POUNDS 
OF  PLANT  FOOD 
PER  TON. 

il 

!6 

Is 

>  5 

Is 

<!  G 

-£>T3 

SKi 

CJK 

t 

tfj 

'£* 

J53J 
cu<; 

1 

Red  clover...  
Timothy  

'94 
394 
284 
286 
232 

3° 
60 
5° 
130 

•2 

598 
976 

s 

$ 

604 

540 

656 

764 
704 
730 
720 

64 
60 

66 
5° 
5" 
54 

5 
28 
40 

20 

$18.06 
17.96 
25.26 
19.00 
19.40 
17-95 
7-63 
6.56 
8-75 
9.71 
12.42 
14.80 
8.98 

39-4 
31.0 
46.0 

S3 
"I 

12.8 

*•« 

96 

XI.  2 

M-4 

t! 

4-4 
4-2 

ti 
C 

10.6 

36-6 
40.8 
30.6 
56.6 

ii 

2.6 

ii 
7.8 

20.2 

37-0 

19.2 

$9-78 
8.4o 
10.86 

";£ 
7-58 
2.60 
2.39 
3.46 
3.10 
5.24 
8.24 
3.01 

Tares,  cut  in  blossom  .     . 
Peas,  cut  in  blossom.  .     . 
Orchard  grass  
Wheat  straw 

Rye  straw  
Barley  straw  

Pea  straw  

Bean  straw  

Our  Plants. 


Green  Fodder. 

POUNDS  OF 
ANIMAL  FOOD 
PER  TON. 

Value  as 
Feed  Per  Ton. 

POUNDS 
OF  PLANT  FOOD 
PER  TON. 

0  B  f?  1  ValUC  aS  Ma- 
^<0>|nUrePerTOn'  I, 

li 

•g'-d 

S 

li 

0.8 
4-4 

J1J 

i 

60 

66 
90 

64 

258 
% 
X 

16 

12 

$5-10 
4-43 
5-32 

3-° 
8.8 

3-2 

9.2 

2.8 

9.6 

Clover  (red)  .  .             .... 

Lucern  
Peas 

Oats  
Rye  
Corn  
Hungarian  millet  

$> 

22 

118 
5° 
3° 
400 

2?8 

950 

18 

10 

i 
40 

5-74 

1:32 
5-56 
2.52 
25.20 

'3-8 

20.0 

8.0 
9.2 

4-8 

2.6 

1:1 

2.8 

12.6 

8.6 
17.0 
7.2 

8.0 

2.81 

1.20 
4.78 
1-95 

2.26 

Cabbage    . 

Roots,  Etc. 

POUNDS  OF 
ANIMAL  FOOD 
PER  TON. 

H  u  w  B  u.  o?  1  Value  as 
*fe%28J  Feed  Per  Ton. 

POUNDS 
OF  PLANT  FOOD 
PER  TON. 

Value  as  Ma- 
nure Per  Ton. 

Is 

4° 

64 

22 
20 

li 

i 

6 

i 

6.8 
3-6 

3-2 
4-4 

II 

m 

a 

Potatoes  ... 

420 

i 
"56 

3-8 
1.6 

2.0 

$1.06 
1.05 

I.OI 

1.18 

Turnips 

Field  beets  

P 

BARN-YARD  MANURE. 

The  manure  heap  is  the  farmers'  bank.  His 
drafts  will  invariably  be  honored  at  any  banking 
house  in  proportion  to  the  amounts  of  the  deposits 
in  his  compost  pile.  But  it  is  a  mistaken  notion  to 
think  that  manure  of  one  kind  is  as  good  as  another 
kind  of  similar  bulk.  The  foregoing  table  shows 
that  a  ton  of  clover  hay  contains  $9.75  worth  of 
plant  food,  a  ton  of  cornmeal  only  $2.60,  while 


14  Soiling. 

the  same  weight  of  cotton -seed  meal  is  worth 
$23.  Clover  hay  is  worth  mor<j  than  timothy, 
both  as  a  food  for  animals  and  plants.  The  particu- 
lar value  of  timothy  hay  for  horses  is  that  it  con- 
tains a  larger  percentage  of  carbohydrates  (muscle- 
forming  food),  and  is,  therefore,  better  for  animals 
requiring  muscular  exercise  than  clover  which  con- 
tains more  fat.  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to 
green  lucern,  oats,  and  peas  cut  in  blossom.  Also 
rye,  and  especially  rape,  of  which  I  shall  have  con- 
siderable to  say  under  the  head  of  crops  for  soiling 
sheep. 

There  are  many  interesting  facts  to  be  found  in 
the  tables,  which  I  have  not  space  to  enlarge  upon, 
but  which  I  cannot  too  strongly  recommend  the 
reader  (not  already  familiar  with  the  facts  they  set 
forth)  to  study  carefully.  By  so  doing  a  person 
may  make  his  selections  of  feeds  with  economy. 
For  instance,  he  might  well  afford  to  sell  corn  and 
buy  oil  meal,  cotton-seed  meal  or  wheat  bran. 

Personally  I  have  great  dislike  to  feeding  corn- 
meal  to  any  degree  of  excess,  even  to  hogs.  Fed  to 
dairy  cows,  I  believe,  it  has  done  a  great  deal  to 
ruin  what  might  otherwise  have  been  a  good  dairy 
animal  by  making  it  a  beefer.  By  feeding  it  to 
dairy  cows  before  their  calf  is  born,  the  calf  is 
brought  into  the  world  with  a  greater  tendency  to 
fatten  than  its  mother  had.  And  afterward,  when 
they  reach  their  maturity,  it  helps  them  along  in  the 
same  direction  toward  completing  their  ruin  as  high- 
class  dairy  cattle,  while  in  beefers  it  makes  tallow 


Our  Plants.  15 

instead  of  meat,  and  in  the  hog,  grease  instead  of 
pork.  Oil  cake,  old  process,  can  usually  be  bought 
for  $5  per  ton  more  than  the  price  of  corn.  It  is 
worth  $13  a  ton  more  as  a  food  for  animals,  and  $14 
per  ton  more  for  manure.  Cotton-seed  meal  shows 
a  still  greater  difference  in  value,  and  is  worth  about 
three  times  as  much  both  as  animal  and  as  plant 
food. 

No  one  can  be  found,  except  perhaps  commercial 
fertilizer  agents,  but  will  admit  that  no  commercial 
fertilizer  was  ever  made  that  takes  the  place  in  the 
soil  of  barnyard  manure.  Says  Prof.  W.  A.  At- 
water :  "  Stable  manure  contains  all  the  ingredients 
of  plant  food.  It  is  a  complete  fertilizer.  Nor  is 
that  all.  It  improves  the  texture  of  the  soil;  it 
tends  to  regulate  the  supply  of  moisture,  and  it 
helps  to  set  free  the  stores  of  inherent  plant  food 
which  every  soil  contains. "  That  is  the  whole  story 
in  a  nutshell.  And  if  every  farmer  would  commit 
it  to  memory,  and  do  his  utmost  to  increase  its 
manufacture  on  his  own  farm,  it  would  save  not 
thousands  but  millions  of  dollars  that  are  now  yearly 
spent  in  the  purchase  of  artificial  fertilizers.  A 
ton  of  oil  cake  fed  and  made  into  manure  is  worth 
as  a  manure,  according  to  the  table  above,  $20.40. 
Take  the  same  amount  of  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid, 
and  potash  in  a  ton  of  commercial  fertilizer,  and  it 
cannot  be  bought  for  less  than  about  $30  per  ton. 
In  other  words,  a  ton  of  oil  meal  is  worth  as  much, 
ton  for  ton,  as  a  fertilizer  as  any  commercial  brand 
that  can  be  bought  for  $30.  That  amount  of  money 


i6 


Soiling. 


would  buy  at  least  two  tons  of  bran.  So  I  might 
go  on  through  the  whole  list  of  farm  grains  and 
by-products,  and  set  them  up  beside  commercial 
fertilizers,  and  in  point  of  economy  it  makes  a  very 
bad  showing  for  the  latter,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
following  table : 


POUNDS  OF  PLANT  FOOD 
PER  TON. 

c 
.2H 
£*•  fe 
£ 

< 

Nitro- 
gen. 

Phos. 
Acid. 

Potash. 

Clover  hay  

39-4 

36-6 
24.8 
28.6 
29.2 

33-o 
40.0 

$9.78 

ia.S 
23.00 
23-25 
25-55 
31-00 

$10.00 
28.00 
15.00 
24.00 
30.00 
32.00 
37.00 

Oilcake  
Wheat  bran  

90.6 
44.8 
98.0 
45-o 
65.0 
70.0 

32-2 
54-6 
56-2 

200.0 
200.0 
2SO.O 

Fertilizer  B          ....                

The  amount  of  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid,  and 
potash  given  in  commercial  fertilizers  is  estimated 
by  the  analysis  given  on  the  sacks.  The  cost  per 
ton  in  the  last  column  is  the  price  the  fertilizers  are 
sold  at.  I  have  given  to  the  nitrogen,  phosphoric 
acid,  and  potash  found  in  the  fertilizers  the  same 
values  as  in  the  hay  and  oil  meal.  The  real  value 
of  the  hay  and  oil  meal  compared  with  commercial 
fertilizers  in  the  above  analysis  is  seen  at  a  glance. 
It  makes  the  strongest  possible  argument  to  the  econ- 
omy of  barnyard  manure.  We  still  have  in  the  oil 
meal  and  the  clover  hay  its  value  as  an  animal  food  ; 
besides,  as  Professor  Atwater  says,  "  barnyard  ma- 
nure is  a  perfect  fertilizer,"  which  few,  if  any,  com- 
mercial fertilizers  ever  claim  to  be.  Every  farmer 


Our  Plants.  17 

admits,  no  doubt,  that  it  is  desirable  to  get  as  much 
barnyard  manure  as  possible,  but  he  says  that  he 
does  not  know  how  he  can  possibly  keep  more  stock 
on  his  land,  which  will  not  support  what  he  already 
has  as  they  ought  to  be  supported.  How  then  is  he 
to  keep  any  more?  We  shall  see  later  on  that  it  is 
a  very  simple  trick. 

GREEN  CROPS  FOR  MANURE. 

This  chapter  might  properly  be  called  "Soiling 
Our  Plants."  And  it  is  to  help  answer  the  question, 
How  enrich  our  farm  in  a  sure  and  economical 
way?  It  may  not  be  convenient  for  some  of  my 
readers,  in  adopting  soiling  with  a  view  of  obtaining 
a  greater  amount  of  barnyard  manure,  to  be  able  to 
buy  the  additional  number  of  animals  that  may  be 
supported  by  such  a  system  of  feeding.  He  may 
also  be,  like  the  author,  opposed,  even  if  he  had  the 
means,  to  buying  commercial  fertilizers.  Not  only 
that,  but  one  of  the  first  lessons  taught  the  person 
who  attempts  to  soil  is  the  importance  of  having 
rich  soil  on  which  to  grow  his  soiling  crops.  If  he 
cannot  buy  the  cattle  to  make  the  manure,  or  if  he 
cannot  buy  the  manure,  he  can  at  least  grow  it,  and 
even  after  he  has  the  cattle  bought,  he  will  always 
find  it  greatly  to  his  advantage  to  have  on  hand  as 
much  green  manure  as  possible,  to  plow  under  every 
year.  Although  this  subject  perhaps  belongs  further 
on  under  the  management  of  soiling  crops,  I  have 
decided  to  put  it  in  here  with  the  question  of  man- 
ures in  general,  especially  as  it  fits  in  very  well  after 

2 


1 8  Soiling. 

what  has  already  been  said  in  regard  to  barnyard 
manures,  etc. 

"Ordinary  barnyard  manure,"  says  Mr.  Harlan  in 
his  most  excellent  work  on  "  Farming  with  Green 
Manure,"  "contains  ten  pounds  of  nitrogen,  five 
pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  twelve  and  one-half 
pounds  of  potash."  By  referring  to  the  above  table, 
we  notice  that  a  ton  of  green  rye  is  worth  just  about 
as  much.  I  have  seen  some  wonderful  results  in  the 
improvement  of  land  by  plowing  under  a  crop  of  rye. 
I  once  rented  a  piece  of  land — seven  acres — adjoin- 
ing my  farm,  that  had  for  a  great  many  years  been 
used  in  connection  with  the  Methodist  parsonage  of 
the  place.  Every  minister  that  came  took  from  it 
all  that  he  could  during  his  three  years  or  less,  so 
that  finally  it  would  hardly  grow  mulleins.  The 
first  season,  it  was  in  grass.  We  drew  the  whole 
crop  to  the  barn  in  two  loads  and  a  half,  about  as 
many  tons.  We  plowed  it  up  and  sowed  it  to  rye, 
plowed  the  rye  under  the  next  spring  and  sowed  it 
to  Hungarian  millet ;  plowed  that  under  and  sowed 
it  to  wheat,  and  harvested  thirty  and  one-fourth 
bushels  per  acre  the  next  season,  and  cut  from  it  the 
following  year  at  least  ten  tons  of  hay.  No  other 
fertilizer  was  used.  I  have  also  had  equally  won- 
derful results  with  following  rye  with  oats  and  peas, 
to  be  plowed  under  for  wheat,  instead  of  summer 
fallowing. 

Land  in  a  good  state  of  cultivation  will  produce 
from  five  to  eight  tons  of  green  rye  per  acre.  A  ton 
of  green  rye  contains  nearly  $3  worth  of  plant 


Our  Plants.  19 

'food,  and  which  amount  of  fertilizing  material  will 
cost  nearly  double  that  price  in  the  form  of  com- 
mercial fertilizer. 

Dr.  Hamlin  says:  "When  we  compare  it  (rye) 
with  barnyard  manure,  its  greatest  value  as  a  green 
dressing  becomes  apparent.  I  have  seen  fifteen 
tons  per  acre  growing  on  the  8th  of  May,  and  this 
was  ascertained  by  careful  measurement." 

This  makes  indeed  a  very  cheap  fertilizer,  viz. : 
seed,  $2,  and  interest  on  the  value  of  the  land 
from  October  until  May  (eight  months),  $4,  or  a 
total  cost  of  only  $6  for  fifteen  tons  of  green 
manure.  The  same  amount  of  barnyard  manure 
could  not  be  bought,  drawn  to  the  field,  and  spread 
for  less  than  $20.  The  great  advantage  of  rye  is 
that  it  occupies  the  ground  late  in  the  fall  and  early 
in  the  spring,  so  that  little  time  is  lost  by  using  it 
to  plow  under,  but  of  this  point  I  will  speak  later 
under  the  subject  of  soiling  crops.  Oats  and  peas 
make  one  of  the  very  best  green  crops  for  manure. 

Hungarian  millet  grows  quickly,  and  is  without 
doubt  one  of  the  very  best  quick-growing  green 
manure  crops  for  the  Northern  States.  It  is  worth, 
green,  to  plow  under,  $4. 78  per  ton.  Twelve  to  fif- 
teen tons  to  the  acre  is  a  fair  crop  on  good  soil. 

The  value  of  clover  as  a  crop  to  turn  under  is  well 
known,  but  a  crop  of  millet  is  quite  as  good,  and  can 
be  grown  quicker  and  at  less  expense. 

The  great  economical  feature  of  green  manuring 
is  that  it  is  delivered  on  the  spot,  evenly  spread,  at 
such  a  trifling  cost.  Sixty  pounds  of  seed  should 


2O  Soiling. 

produce  twelve  tons  of  green  millet,  containing  near- 
ly $60  worth  of  manure,  and  that  is  not  at  com- 
mercial fertilizer  prices  either. 

Cow  peas  are  largely  grown  in  the  Southern  States 
to  reclaim  the  worn-out  tobacco  and  cotton  soils,  and 
its  value  for  this  purpose  is  incalculable.  My  per- 
sonal experience  with  it  has  been  limited  to  two  or 
three  trials.  The  following  interesting  information 
taken  from  the  United  States  Bulletin,  No.  16,  shows 
us  why  the  cow  pea  and  other  leguminous  plants  like 
clover,  etc.,  are  particularly  adapted  to  plowing  un- 
der for  green  manure  (by  E.  W.  Allen) : 

"  Green  manuring,  or  plowing  under  green  crops 
raised  for  the  purpose,  is  one  of  the  oldest  means  for 
improving  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  It  was  advo- 
cated by  Roman  writers  more  than  two  thousand 
years  ago.  Its  advantages  are  many.  It  furnishes 
the  surface  soil  with -a  supply  of  fertilizing  materials, 
increases  the  humus  and  improves  the  physical  quali- 
ties and  tilth  of  the  soil.  As  a  humus  former,  green 
manure  stands  next  to  barnyard  manure.  Green 
manuring  may  be  used  to  take  the  place  of  more  ex- 
pensive fertilizers.  It  is  in  this  latter  use  that  it 
finds  its  widest  application."  In  attempting  to  ex- 
plain how  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  maintained  by 
green  manuring,  when  the  crops  plowed  under  re- 
turn to  the  soil  only  what  they  exhausted  from  the 
soil  to  produce  their  growth,  the  author  of  the  bul- 
letin, Mr.  E.  W.  Allen,  says:  "  The  question  has  been 
solved  by  one  of  the  most  important  discoveries  yet 
made  in  agricultural  science.  It  has  been  found 


Our  Plants.  21 

that  certain  plants  can  feed  upon  the  nitrogen  in 
the  atmosphere  and  store  it  up  in  their  tissues.  As 
they  grow  they  take  their  phosphoric  acid  and  pot- 
ash from  the  soil.  It  is  believed  that  plants  are  en- 
abled to  get  this  nitrogen  through  the  activity  of  the 
lower  forms  of  life,  bacteria  or  microbes.  They 
produce  or  cause  to  be  produced  little  nodules  or 
tubercles  on  the  roots.  Through  these  tubercles 
the  plants  get  their  atmospheric  nitrogen. 

"  These  discoveries  throw  a  new  light  on  green 
manuring  and  on  plants  best  adapted  for  that  pur- 
pose. They  recommend  it  more  highly  than  ever 
before  as  a  soil  renovator  and  a  cheap  means  of 
maintaining  the  fertility. 

"  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  it  is  possible  to  manure 
the  soil  with  nitrogen  of  the  air,  which  is  free  and 
inexhaustible,  and  thus  save  buying  this  most  ex- 
pensive element,  which  as  stated  above,  costs  from 
15  to  20  cents  per  pound,  while  potash  and  phos- 
phoric acid  cost  only  5  to  7  cents  and  even  less." 

Speaking  of  the  cow  pea  as  a  fertilizer,  the  same 
author  says :  "  It  responds  readily  to  the  application 
of  potash  and  phosphates.  An  acre  of  cow  peas  at 
the  Louisiana  Station  yielded  3,970.38  pounds  of 
organic  matter,  containing  64.95  pounds  of  nitrogen, 
20.39  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  110.56  pounds 
of  potash. " 


22 


Soiling. 


LIQUID  MANURE. 

There  is  perhaps  no  one  thing  in  farm  economy 
in  the  United  States  where  there  is  a  greater  waste 
than  in  regard  to  this-  most  valuable  fertilizer. 

Many  farmers  have  brooks  running  through  their 
barnyards,  or  have  them  situated  on  side  hills, 
washed  by  rains  and  water  from  the  roofs  of  their 
barns. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  pounds 
of  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid,  and  potash  found  in  a 
ton  of  fresh  dung  and  urine,  and  their  comparative 
values : 


DUNG. 

URINK. 

Nitro- 
gen. 

Phos. 
Acid. 

Pot- 
ash. 

Value. 

Nitro- 
gen. 

Phos. 
Acid. 

Pot- 
ash. 

Value. 

6.2 

3-4 

8.2 

3-° 
7.0 

2.0 
5-2 

$2.56 
2.30 
i-37 
a.  93 

39-o 

S3 

8.6 

0.2 

1.4 

45.2 
30.0 
9.8 
16.6 

$9.61 
7.40 
2.71 
2-44 

Horse  

Swine  .'!.!!!!!!!!! 

8.8 
5-8 

12.0 

The  analysis  from  which  the  above  table  is  com- 
puted is  also  from  Professor  Wolff,  to  which  I  have 
added  the  value  as  estimated  in  the  previous  tables. 
The  methods  used  to  save  liquid  manure  in  this 
country,  although  rarely  ever  practised,  are  by  ab- 
sorbents behind  the  stock  in  stalls,  and  the  housing 
of  manure  under  some  kind  of  shed  or  basement.  My 
own  plan  has  been  to  use  land  plaster  freely  in  the 
gutters  behind  the  stock,  the  manure  carted  to  the 
fields  and  spread  as  fast  as  made  during  the  winter, 


.     Our  Plants.  23 

or  spread  about  under  the  basement  and  straw  stack 
which  stands  on  posts,  permitting  the  stock  to  run 
under  it,  the  yard  being  deeper  under  the  stack 
than  elsewhere,  with  eaves-troughs  so  arranged  that 
all  water  from  the  roofs  was  carried  out  of  the  yard. 

In  foreign  countries,  and  especially  on  the  islands 
of  Jersey  and  Guernsey,  every  farmer  has  a  liquid 
manure  cistern,  and  over  or  near  it  all  the  manure 
of  the  stable  is  daily  piled  or  composted.  The  drain 
from  the  pile  and  the  wash  of  the  yard  is  collected 
in  this  cistern,  and  from  there  pumped  into  carts 
for  this  purpose,  and  distributed  usually  on  the 
meadows.  The  Jersey  and  Guernsey  farmers  are 
the  best  agriculturists  in  the  world,  and  they  would 
as  soon  think  of  going  without  a  stable  for  their  cat- 
tle as  without  a  liquid  manure  cistern.  I  think  we 
make  a  great  mistake  in  this  country  in  not  having 
such  cisterns. 

In  applying  liquid  manure,  it  is  always  greatly 
diluted  by  allowing  the  eaves  of  the  barn  to  run  in 
the  same  cistern,  or  water  is  otherwise  added. 
Where  they  obtain  several  cuttings  of  lucern  for 
instance,  a  dressing  of  liquid  manure  is  put  on  after 
each  cutting,  and  the  results  are  something  magical. 
A  man  with  one  horse  cart,  it  is  claimed,  can  pump 
and  deliver  to  the  field,  if  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
of  the  barn,  dressing  for  an  acre.  I  doubt  if  one 
man  could  deliver  and  spread  more  than  one-half  of 
that  amount  of  solid  manure  in  a  day.  Where  wind- 
mills are  used,  they  may  be  used  to  do  the  pumping, 
having  two  carts,  one  being  pumped  full  while  the 


24  Soiling. 

other  is  being  emptied.  Should  the  cart  be  filled 
before  the  drivers  return,  and  run  over,  it  runs  back 
into  the  well.  I  do  not  think  of  any  one  thing-  in 
farm  economy  where  there  is  a  greater  chance  for 
saving  than  in  this  one  question  of  liquid  manure. 
I  believe  it  will  pay  a  better  return  on  the  invest- 
ment than  any  one  thing  that  can  be  recommended. 

The  German  proprietor  of  eight  acres,  referred  to 
by  James  Wilson,  in  "Ten  Acres  Enough,"  who 
transformed  the  neglected  and  exhausted  soil  into  a 
garden  of  immense  productiveness  and  great  profit, 
started  with  a  capital  of  $3  and  four  pigs.  The 
manure  of  this  small  number  of  stock  was  collected 
in  a  buried  hogshead,  there  reduced  to  liquid  man- 
ure, and  applied  by  means  of  a  wheelbarrow.  The 
results  from  this  small  beginning  were  so  remark- 
able that  he  soon  added  more  stock,  sinking  a  brick 
cistern  in  the  barnyard,  into  which  the  liquid  man- 
ure from  the  cow  and  two  horses  was  conducted,  to- 
gether with  the  wash  from  the  pig  pen  and  yard. 
The  manure  heap,  always  under  cover,  was 
thoroughly  saturated  by  means  of  a  pump  in  the  cis- 
tern, and  by  means  of  a  hogshead  on  wheels  the 
liquid  was  distributed  over  the  ground. 

The  reason  why  liquid  manure  cisterns  are  not 
common  in  this  country  is  simply  fashion.  I  believe 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  we  waste  as  much 
every  year  by  not  securing  the  liquid  manure  as  we 
pay  for  commercial  fertilizers  to  take  its  place. 


Our  Plants.  25 


SAVING  MANURE  (PLASTER). 

We  are  told  that  "  during  the  fermenting  process 
in  the  manure  heap,  carbon  dioxide  gas  is  given  off, 
and  likewise  ammonia,  simultaneously  with  the  de- 
composition of  the  materials  constituting  the  heap. 
These  two  substances  will  at  once  combine  to  form 
carbonate  of  ammonia,  which  is  very  volatile.  Now, 
when  land  plaster  is  added,  the  carbon  dioxide  con- 
tained in  the  carbon  of  ammonia  will  unite  with  the 
lime  composing  the  plaster,  forming  carbonate  of 
lime :  and  the  sulphuric  acid  which  was  previously 
combined  with  the  lime  in  the  plaster  will  now  be 
set  free,  and  will  at  once  unite  with  the  ammonia 
contained  in  the  carbonate  to  form  sulphate  of  am- 
monia, which  will  not  volatilize,  as  was  the  case 
with  the  carbonate. " 

COMMERCIAL  FERTILIZER. 

Our  alphabet  is  composed  of  twenty-six  letters  or 
characters,  which  we  arrange  so  as  to  express  thou- 
sands of  words.  The  botanical  alphabet  is  com- 
posed of  fifteen  letters  or  elements,  which,  being  put 
together  in  various  forms,  produce  every  known 
plant. 

Most  of  our  artificial  manures  are  special  ferti- 
lizers and  supply  the  soil  with  only  part  of  the  plant 
food  required.  Let  us  suppose,  for  example,  that  we 
wish  a  certain  field  to  produce  a  crop  of  wheat,  and 
that  in  order  to  grow  that  crop  it  will  require  five  of 


26  Soiling. 

the  fifteen  elements  that  constitute  the  vegetable  al- 
phabet; to  spell  wheat,  let  us  represent  these  five 
elements  by  five  letters  of  our  alphabet,  as  W,  H, 
E,  A,  T. 

If  any  one  of  these  letters  or  the  elements  which 
they  represent  are  missing  in  the  soil,  the  combina- 
tion is  incomplete,  nature  fails  to  spell  the  word,  and 
our  crop  is  a  failure. 

How  is  a  farmer  to  know  which  one  of  the  letters 
is  missing?  By  analyzing  the  soil.  Yes,  but  how 
many  farmers  are  in  a  position  to  do  this?  Besides, 
it  must  be  done  not  only  with  each  succeeding  crop, 
but  in  different  fields  for  the  same  crop.  You  say 
this  is  impossible.  Certainly  it  is.  Even  if  it  were 
possible,  the  analysis  of  a  soil  is  little  or  no  criterion 
as  to  its  ability  to  produce  a  crop.  It  may  show  by 
analysis  that  a  certain  soil  is  abundantly  supplied 
with  all  the  elements  necessary  to  produce  a  crop  of 
wheat,  and  still  the  land  be  unable  to  grow  wheat, 
because,  although  the  soil  contains  all  the  elements, 
one  or  more  of  them  (though  in  great  quantities) 
may  be  in  an  insoluble  state,  so  that  they  are  not 
available  to  the  plants.  Therefore,  even  if  analyz- 
ing the  soil  were  practicable,  it  does  not  tell  what 
we  want  to  know. 

The  application  of  complete  fertilizers  is  a  step  in 
advance,  because  if  the  soil  is  supplied  with  all  the 
elements  necessary  to  produce  a  crop,  one  is  more 
certain  that  the  missing  or  deficient  letter  or  ele- 
ment will  be  supplied. 

We  will  say  in  the  case  of  growing  a  crop  of  wheat 


Our  Plants.  27 

that  all  the  letters  or  elements  are  present  and  avail- 
able except  T,  and  that  that  letter  represents  potash 
which  can  be  bought  in  various  forms  for  about  4 
cents  a  pound.  The  soil  being  already  abundant  in 
all  other  elements,  the  application  of  a  complete  fer- 
tilizer is  a  most  extravagant  practice.  You  pay  $30 
to  $40  per  ton  for  a  high-class  complete  fertilizer. 
Apply  it  to  the  land  in  this  case,  and  all  the  value 
it  has  is  the  potash  it  contains,  worth  $4.  Pay- 
ing $35  a  ton  to  get  $4  worth  of  fertilizer  is  a  rather 
expensive  luxury,  to  say  the  least.  The  nitrogen  and 
phosphoric  acid  are  practically  wasted,  because  the 
soil  has  an  abundance  of  these  two  elements  already. 

Thus  it  often  occurs  that  the  application  of  a  little 
lime  or  land  plaster,  salt  or  wood  ashes,  produces 
equally  as  good  results  side  by  side  with  fertilizer 
costing  $60  per  ton.  It  is  not  because,  as  some 
farmers  suppose,  that  commercial  fertilizers  are 
worthless,  but  because  the  soil  already  possesses  all 
the  elements  contained  in  the  fertilizer  except  some 
simple  one  that  a  much  cheaper  element  can  supply. 

I  do  not  condemn  commercial  fertilizers,  but  they 
are  too  expensive.  I  have  experimented  with  them 
several  times,  and  have  never  but  once  or  twice  ob- 
tained sufficient  additional  returns  to  justify  the 
outlay.  I  look  at  them  as  too  much  of  a  lottery,  too 
much  guesswork.  In  a  cold,  backward  season,  I 
have  had  good  results ;  in  a  hot,  dry  season,  a  posi* 
tive  damage. 

If  I  knew  just  what  each  of  my  fields  was  deficient 
in,  and  could  supply  it  without  buying  a  lot  of  other 


28  Soiling. 

elements  of  which  my  soil  has  already  an  abundance, 
it  would  be  different.  But  I  do  not  know  that,  and 
have  no  way  of  finding  it  out  with  any  degree  of 
certainty.  Therefore  I  shun  the  purchase  ot  com- 
mercial fertilizers,  and  put  my  faith  in  barnyard 
manure,  which  I  know,  as  Professor  Atwater  says, 
is  a  complete  fertilizer,  and  I  believe  him  when  he 
adds,  as  already  quoted :  "  It  improves  the  texture  of 
the  soil,  it  tends  to  regulate  the  supply  of  moisture, 
it  helps  to  set  free  the  stores  of  inherent  plant  food 
which  every  soil  contains." 

Next  to  barnyard  manure  in  point  of  economy 
is  green  manuring,  especially  when  the  former  is 
scarce  and  must  be  hauled  to  any  great  distance. 
Commercial  fertilizers  are  too  expensive  for  their 
manurial  value,  as  compared  with  grain  and  forage 
crops  plowed  under  or  fed  to  stock. 

You  may  take  the  analysis  of  any  brand  of  ferti- 
lizer selling  at  $30,  go  through  the  table  of  compara- 
tive values,  and  pick  out  a  grain  or  a  forage  con- 
taining as  high  a  percentage  of  nitrogen,  phosphoric 
acid,  and  potash,  that  you  can  buy  in  the  markets 
for  $15  to  $20,  or  which  you  could  grow  for  less  than 
a  quarter  of  that  sum:  two  tons  of  clover  hay,  for 
instance,  that  can  be  bought  for,  say,  $10  per  ton, 
and  grown  for  less  than  half  of  that  amount,  contain 
nearly  as  much  plant  food  as  a  ton  of  commercial 
fertilizer  that  will  cost  $30. 

If  a  ton  of  fertilizer  that  contains  45  pounds  of 
nitrogen,  200  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  90 
pounds  of  potash  (which  is  about  the  average  anal- 


Our  Plants.  29 

ysis)  is  worth  $30  (which  is  about  the  average  price 
of  fertilizers  of  that  grade),  then  a  ton  of  clover  hay 
is  worth  nearly  $15,  a  ton  of  wheat  bran  about  $16, 
a  ton  of  oil  cake  $30,  while  a  ton  of  cotton-seed  meal 
contains  as  much  plant  food,  ton  for  ton,  as  a  $30 
fertilizer,  and  can  be  bought  for  $6  per  ton  less. 
That  is  their  value,  or  what  you  would  have  to  pay 
for  the  same  amount  of  plant  food  if  bought  in  the 
form  of  commercial  fertilizers,  to  say  nothing  about 
the  value  of  the  grains  and  forage  crops  as  a  food 
for  stock.  Say  nothing  about  the  increased  value  of 
plant  food  as  supplied  in  barnyard  manure  above 
any  form  of  commercial  fertilizer.  Put  it  the  other 
way  about. 

If  a  ton  of  clover  hay  contains  plant  food  to  the 
value  of  $9.78,  wheat  bran  $12.28,  oil  cake  $20.40, 
cotton-seed  meal  $23,  then  a  ton  of  commercial 
fertilizer  that  sells  for  $30  is  worth  only  about  $23 ; 
a  ton  of  fertilizer  costing  $37,  about  $30. 

If  you  say  that  I  have  put  the  value  of  commer- 
cial fertilizer  too  low,  then  all  values  set  down  in 
the  tables  are  too  low.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  you 
say  that  the  forage  and  feed  have  been  given  too 
high  a  value  as  manure,  then  commercial  fertilizers 
have  also  been  given  too  high  a  value.  They  are 
both  figured  on  the  same  basis. 

Selling  grain  to  buy  fertilizer  seems  to  me  such 
an  extravagant  way. 

When  we  pay  $30  for  a  ton  of  commercial  fertilizer, 
the  money  goes  off  the  farm.  When  we  grow  an  equal 
amount  of  plant  food  and  retain  it  on  the  farm,  we 


30  Soiling. 

double  its  value.  Nothing  has  gone  off.  We  have, 
on  the  other  hand,  created  or  made  that  much 
money. 

The  amount  spent  in  this  State  (New  York)  yearly 
for  commercial  fertilizers  is  over  $6,000,000,  the  in- 
terest on  which  would  pay  for  the  extra  labor  of 
soiling  every  cow  in  the  State,  or  building  a  liquid 
manure  cistern  on  every  farm,  the  saving  of  which 
would  perhaps  equal  the  amount  paid  for  commer- 
cial fertilizers.  To  the  farmer  who  would  enrich  his 
farm  in  a  sure  and  economical  way,  and  to  the  farmer 
who  puts  his  faith  in  barnyard  manure  and  would 
attain  the  greatest  possible  amount  at  the  least  pos- 
sible cost,  the  soiling  system,  as  we  shall  presently 
show,  affords  just  those  conditions  and  advantages. 

OIL  CAKE  AND  COTTON-SEED  MEAL. 

Before  closing  this  chapter  on  manures,  I  wish  to 
call  the  reader's  attention  to  a  by-product,  that  in 
this  country  at  least  is  in  no  way  appreciated.  I  refer 
to  oil  cake. 

You  will  notice  by  the  foregoing  tables  that  oil 
cake  is  worth  $37.24  as  a  food,  and  $20.40  as  a  ferti- 
lizer, while  corn  meal  is  only  worth  $24.48  as  a 
food,  and  $7.16  as  a  fertilizer.  In  other  words,  it 
will  take  a  ton  and  a  half  of  corn  to  equal  the  feed- 
ing value  of  a  ton  of  oil  meal,  and  three  tons  of  corn 
meal  to  equal  the  oil  meal  as  a  fertilizer.  There  is 
a  small  percentage  of  plant  food  lost  in  the  con- 
sumption of  food  by  cattle.  Its  combined  value 


Our  Plants.  31 

per  ton  as  a  food  and  fertilizer  is,  therefore,  oil  meal 
$57.64,  corn  meal  $31.64,  a  difference  of  $26  a  ton 
in  favor  of  oil  meal.  The  English  farmer  who 
knows  and  appreciates  the  value  of  oil  cake  is  buy- 
ing ninety  per  cent,  of  the  total  that  is  manufactured 
in  this  country,  paying  freight  on  it  to  our  seaboard, 
and  then  across  the  Atlantic  and  into  the  interior. 
Thousands  of  tons  per  month  leave  this  country  for 
foreign  ports. 

This  is  no  speculation  on  my  part ;  oil  cake  or  oil 
meal  is  one  of  the  very  best  of  foods.  Why  it  is  so 
slow  in  finding  favor  with  American  farmers,  I  can- 
not say.  As  a  food  for  fattening  sheep  or  beef,  corn 
meal  is  no  comparison.  It  produces  the  finest 
flavored  mutton,  the  tenderest  beef  with  the  great- 
est amount  of  lean  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  fat, 
and  it  makes  meat  instead  of  grease.  A  field  of 
turnips  fed  off  to  sheep  with  a  ration  of  oil  cake  en- 
riches the  land  for  a  whole  rotation  of  crops.  It 
cannot  obtain  much  from  the  roots,  for  they  are 
ninety  per  cent,  water  to  start  with.  Any  one  who 
has  ever  tasted  English  oil-cake-fed  mutton  will 
agree  with  me  that  it  is  as  much  superior  to  corn- 
fed  mutton  as  is  possible  to  imagine. 

Oil  cake  may  seem  expensive  at  $28  to  $30  per 
ton,  but  it  is  the  cheapest  fertilizer  you  can  buy. 
Cotton-seed  meal  is  another  by-product,  although  it 
is  not  to  be  compared  with  oil  cake  as  a  food,  be- 
cause it  is  not  relished  as  well  by  the  stock,  and  if 
fed  in  too  large  quantities  sometimes  produces  in- 
jurious effects.  However,  it  is  a  good  wholesome 


32  Soiling. 

feed,  and  as  a  fertilizer  none  can  compare  with  it. 
It  should  be  fed  sparingly,  but  nevertheless  should 
be  used  on  every  farm.  Sell  corn  and  buy  oil  meal 
or  oil  cake,  and  you  will  make  a  good  bargain  every 
time. 


CHAPTER  III. 
OUR    ANIMALS. 

How  TO  FEED  THEM  ECONOMICALLY. 

Now  that  we  have  considered  our  soil  and  its  fertil- 
ity, our  plants,  and  how  to  feed  them  economically, 
we  will  have  a  look  at  our  animals.  Then  we  shall 
be  better  able  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  ad- 
vantages of  soiling.  These  are  some  of  the  princi- 
pal lessons  that  the  soiling  system  teaches.  These 
lessons  were  taught  me  by  a  force  of  circumstances 
against  which  I  fought  desperately,  and  were 
learned  from  the  end  backward.  I  have,  therefore, 
in  this  plea  for  soiling,  reversed  the  order  with  the 
hope  of  leading  the  reader  up  to  the  subject  from 
the  foundation. 

As  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  forage  depends 
upon  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  in  like  manner  does 
the  condition  of  "our  farm  stock  depend  upon  the 
quantity  and  quality  of  the  food  which  the  soil  pro- 
duces. 

THE  Cow  AS  A  MACHINE. 

A  cow  is  but  a  machine  for  the  production  of  beef, 
milk,  cheese,  or  butter.  Sheep  are  but  factories  on 
a  small  scale,  for  the  production  of  wool  or  mutton. 
The  horse  is  but  an  engine  for  motive  power,  either 
draught  or  speed. 
3 


34  Soiling. 

When  we  come  to  consider  our  plants  as  depend- 
ing upon  us,  like  our  animals,  for  their  food  supply: 
when  we  come  to  consider  our  animals  as  so  many 
machines  or  factories,  and  ourselves  as  the  proprie- 
tors of  so  many  mills,  and  as  truly  a  manufacturer 
as  the  man  who  runs  a  cotton  or  grist  mill:  when 
we  consider  that  all  these  mills  are  dependent  upon 
the  fertility  of  the  soil,  we  have  mastered  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  farming.  Whether  we  require 
of  our  animals  beef,  milk,  butter,  cheese,  wool,  mut  • 
ton,  or  motive  power,  the  raw  material  from  which 
these  things  are  produced  is  simply  the  food  these 
animals  consume,  and,  as  in  any  other  mill  or  fac- 
tory, the  profit  realized  by  the  owner  is  what  these 
animals  can  be  induced  to  consume  beyond  the 
amount  required  to  sustain  life,  and  heat  the  blood, 
and  supply  waste. 

An  engine  requires,  say,  ten  pounds  of  coal  per 
hour  to  produce  power  enough  to  sustain  itself  in 
motion.  The  profit  to  the  owner  will  be  found  in 
the  amount  of  coal  it  can  be  made  to  consume  in 
excess  of  the  ten  pounds  to  a  point  where  the  con- 
sumption of  coal  cannot  be  utilized  in  the  engine. 
Repeated  experiments  at  home  and  abroad  have 
demonstrated  that  it  takes  two  per  cent,  of  the  live 
weight  of  cattle  or  sheep  per  day  to  live.  A  cow, 
for  instance,  weighing  1,000  pounds  requires  twenty 
pounds  of  hay  or  its  equivalent  to  heat  the  blood 
and  supply  the  waste.  The  profit  or  economy  in 
feeding  that  cow  will  be,  therefore,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  steam  engine,  found  in  the  amount  she  is  able 


Our  Animals.  35 

to  digest  and  assimilate  above  the  twenty  pounds 
she  must  consume  to  propel  herself.  Of  course, 
cattle,  sheep,  and  horses,  like  the  engine,  have  a 
limit  beyond  which  it  is  a  waste  of  material,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  injurious  effects  and  risk  to  the  ma- 
chinery. Fuel  fed  to  an  engine  already  blowing  off 
steam  might  better  have  been  consumed  in  a  bonfire. 
Forage  in  excess  of  what  an  animal  can  digest  and 
assimilate  might  better  go  into  the  dung-hill  direct. 

The  art,  and  science,  and  economy  of  feeding, 
therefore,  is  to  feed  up  to  an  animal's  fullest  capac- 
ity. 

This  seems  like  a  very  simple  question,  and  one 
that  should  be  so  self-evident  that  it  requires  no 
mention,  but  when  we  look  about  and  see  the  thou- 
sands and  tens  of  thousands  of  farmers  whose  policy 
seems  to  be  to  see  how  little  they  can  feed,  instead 
of  how  much,  one  is  reminded  that  it  is  a  point  that 
is  seldom  practised.  Just  here  lies  the  great  advan- 
tage of  the  soiling  system.  It  provides,  as  we  shall 
presently  show,  an  abundance  of  rich  succulent 
food,  so  that  a  cow  can  feed  up  to  her  full  capacity 
every  day  of  the  year. 

WHEN  INSUFFICIENTLY  FED. 

It  is  not  only  absolutely  necessary,  in  order  to  feed 
a  cow  economically,  which  is  another  name  for  feed- 
ing abundantly,  that  she  should  be  fed  up  to  her 
fullest  capacity,  but  she  must  begin  there  and  keep 
there.  If  she  is  not  started  there,  it  is  not  only 
difficult  but  more  expensive  to  get  her  there.  She 


36  Soiling. 

should  not  only  have  all  the  raw  material  she  can 
consume  and  digest,  but  she  must  expend  the  least 
amount  of  muscular  labor  to  acquire  it  consistent 
with  health.  We  shall  notice  this  point  further  un- 
der "Objections  to  Soiling." 

When  animals  begin  the  season  in  good  flesh,  it 
must  be  maintained  by  abundance  of  food.  Failing 
to  supply  it,  either  one  of  two  things  happens. 
They  either  stop  short  in  their  product,  or  draw  on 
the  stored  energies  of  the  system,  which  are,  as  R. 
S.  Thomson  says  in  "Science  of  Farming, "" reab- 
sorbed  into  the  blood  and  burned  in  the  place  of 
food.  If  the  deficiency  of  food  continues,  the  mus- 
cular substances  will  also  be  attacked  and  absorbed. 
This  process  will  continue  until  the  animal  can  no 
longer  obtain  from  its  tissues  material  to  produce  by 
its  combustion  sufficient  heat  and  energy  to  maintain 
the  vital  processes,  and  the  animal  dies."  Another 
great  difficulty  in  the  pasturing  system  is,  the  ani- 
mals, cows  in  milk  especially,  begin  to  draw  on  their 
stored  materials  long  before  it  is  usually  noticed. 
They  go  on  giving  a  good  flow  of  milk  on  pasture 
which  is  insufficient  to  sustain  them,  until  the  first 
thing  the  owner  knows  his  cow  is  a  skeleton,  and  to 
get  her  back  again  will  require  the  cost  of  all  she 
has  hitherto  produced.  Getting  a  cow  up  into  con- 
dition which  has  once  been  lost,  while  she  is  milk- 
ing, is  a  very  long,  stern  chase,  and  a  very  expen- 
sive undertaking,  as  any  one  knows  who  has  tried 
it.  Better  dry  her  off  and  begin  again  next  year, 
and  not  only  have  her  up  at  the  beginning,  but  keep 


Our  Animals.  37 

her  up  through  the  year.  In  order  to  accomplish 
this  at  the  least  possible  expense,  the  soiling  system, 
which  provides  an  abundance  of  rich,  succulent  food 
the  year  round,  will  be  found  to  meet  every  require- 
ment. 

In  feeding  farm  stock,  it  is  the  liberal  hand  that 
maketh  rich.  Withholding  will  not  enrich  nor  giv- 
ing impoverish.  With  this  hypothesis,  the  soiling 
system  is  in  perfect  harmony. 

Looking  at  a  cow  as  a  machine,  and  a  sheep  as  a 
wool  factory,  we  see  the  importance  of  not  only 
feeding  liberally,  if  we  would  be  economical,  but  of 
providing  the  animals  with  food  so  that  they  are  put 
to  the  least  wear  and  tear  to  obtain  it.  The  food 
which  is  consumed  by  a  cow  to  replace  and  replen- 
ish the  wasted  tissues  caused  by  laboring  all  day  to 
collect  her  food,  is  by  the  soiling  system  put  to  a  prac- 
tical advantage  and  a  profitable  one  as  well.  I  shall 
be  able  to  illustrate  this  point  more  fully  further 
on  under  the  chapter  devoted  to  soiling  sheep. 

The  rearing  of  calves  for  dairy  purposes  is  a  sub- 
ject to  which  I  have  given  much  attention,  and  al- 
though I  cannot  enter  into  the  details  or  give  any- 
thing like  a  complete  treatise  on  that  subject  here,  I 
may  say  that  for  supplying  growing  calves  with  an 
abundance  of  rich,  succulent  forage  at  a  time  of  life 
when  they  require  the  highest  development  of  those 
organs  which  constitute  the  machinery  of  a  dairy 
cow,  there  is  no  system  of  feeding  to  accomplish 
this  end  like  a  well-conducted  feeding  of  green  for- 
age to  them  in  their  stalls. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
SOILING. 

MY  FIRST  LESSON  IN  AGRICULTURE. 

IN  1874  I  found  myself  in  possession  of  an  old  farm 
in  Wayne  County ;  it  seemed  as  if  I  had  secured  a 
prize.  I  had  lived  on  this  farm  until  I  was  ten  or 
twelve  years  of  age,  and  after  that  spent  most  of  my 
school  vacations  upon  it.  This  was  in  the  sixties, 
when  agriculture  was  booming  and  such  land  was 
worth  $150  per  acre.  In  those  days,  this  particular 
farm  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  very 
best  in  the  county. 

After  taking  possession  of  the  farm  some  ten  or 
twelve  years  later,  I  was  greatly  surprised  at  the 
change  that  had  taken  place,  not  only  in  the  general 
run-down  appearance  of  the  place  (which  was  not 
to  be  wondered  at  on  a  farm  that  had  been  worked 
on  shares  for  fifty  years),  but  in  the  matter  of  the 
farm's  ability  to  produce. 

I  discovered  that  the  number  of  cattle  that  it  once 
maintained  in  such  prime  condition  had  been  re- 
duced by  half,  and  that  the  flock  of  sheep  which  was 
once  the  pride  of  the  former  owner  had  disappeared 
entirely.  My  disappointment  reached  its  climax, 
however,  when  my  first  wheat  crop  from  a  field 


Soiling.  39 

considered  one  of  the  best  on  the  farm  was  a  failure. 
As  a  lad  I  had  driven  the  old  Wood  and  Manny 
reaper  in  this  same  field  in  grain  so  heavy  that  I 
was  often  obliged  to  stop  the  machine  to  enable  the 
man  who  "  sat  standing  "  on  the  platform  to  fork  it 
off,  as  it  came  on  the  table  faster  than  he  was  able 
to  dispose  of  it,  and  at  the  rate  of  about  forty 
bushels  per  acre.  Of  course,  I  expected,  from  my 
former  knowledge  of  the  farm,  to  get  good  crops 
from  all  of  the  fields,  and  from  this  particular  field 
something  extra.  -Imagine  my  surprise  and  disap- 
pointment when  it  produced  but  fifteen  bushels  of 
wheat  per  acre,  and  wheat  of  inferior  quality  at 
that.  This  revelation  was  more  than  discouraging. 
Like  most  people,  I  have  met  with  many  disap- 
pointments and  much  heavier  losses  since  then, 
seen  fondest  hopes  and  most  substantial  looking  air 
castles  fade  away  like  mist,  but  I  was  young  then, 
just  past  my  teens,  and  I  took  this  disappointment 
very  much  to  heart.  Such  a  wreckage  as  seemed 
to  fall  about  me  that  day,  I  have  never  since  experi- 
enced. The  situation  figured  out  with  the  following 
result : 

STATEMENT  SHOWING  THE  COST  AND  THE  PROFIT  AND  Loss  OF 
GROWING  FIFTEEN  AND  FORTV  BUSHELS  OF  WHEAT  PER 
ACRE. 

Fifteen  Bushels.  Forty  Bushels. 

Dr.  Cr.               Dr.         Cr. 

To  fitting  the  ground $5.00  $5.00 

To  two  bushels  seed  at  $1.10  per 

bushel 2.20  2.20 

To  interest  at  seven  per  cent,  on  one 

acre 8.75  8.75 


Soiling. 


Fifteen  Bushels. 

Dr.          Cr. 

To  harvesting  and  drawing  to  barn  .    1.75 
To  threshing,  etc. ,  at  six  cents  per 

bushel , 90 

To  marketing,  one  and  one-half  cents 

per  bushel 22 

By  cash    for  wheat    at    $i.  10  per 


Forty  Bushel*. 
Dr.          Cr. 
2.00 

2.40 


.60 


bushel 


$16.50 


$44.00 


Total $18.82     $16.50  $20.95 

Balance 16.50 


Loss  per  acre $2.32 

Gain  per  acre $23.05 

There  were  sixteen  acres  in  the  field.  This  made 
a  total  loss  of  $27. 12,  while  there  would  have  been  a 
net  gain  of  $368.80  had  the  field  produced  forty 
bushels  per  acre,  which  it  ought  to  have  done.  The 
difference  per  acre  in  cost  of  growing  forty  bushels 
over  a  yield  of  fifteen  bushels  is  only  $2. 13  per  acre, 
while  the  difference  in  income  would  have  been 
$27.50  per  acre.  But  this  $2.13  does  not  begin  to 
represent  the  actual  loss ;  saying  nothing  about  all 
that  labor  being  thrown  away,  the  wasted  plant 
food  that  was  in  the  soil  that  must  be  returned,  and 
the  wear  and  tear  of  team  and  tools,  etc.  The  seed- 
ing as  may  be  expected  failed  to  catch,  and  this  was 
by  far  the  greatest  loss  of  all,  a  loss  that  no  arith- 
metic can  figure  out.  There  was  the  loss  of  the 
timothy  seed  sown  the  fall  before,  and  the  clover 
sown  in  the  spring,  and  the  labor  of  putting  it  on 
(no  very  small  items).  But  the  further  damage  to 
the  land  itself,  which,  as  I  said  before,  is  incalculable, 


Soiling.  41 


would  undoubtedly  have  all  been  avoided  had  the 
land  been  in  a  higher  state  of  cultivation.  It  is  a 
case  of  "  To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  from 
him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which 
he  hath." 

Sad  and  disappointing  as  was  the  above  result,  I 
have  long  since  looked  back  upon  it  as  a  most  for- 
tunate occurrence,  and  one  of  the  best  lessons  in 
practical  agriculture  that  I  ever  received. 

From  the  day  I  made  those  disappointing  figures 
dated  a  complete  change  in  my  notions  and  methods 
of  farming.  I  had  absorbed  all  I  knew  about  farm- 
ing, as  a  lad,  while  living  on  and  visiting  the  old 
place. 

What  had  become  of  the  old  farm  that  was  once 
known  as  one  of  the  best  in  the  county?  The  sun 
shone  as  brightly  as  ever  upon  it,  nor  were  the 
clouds  less  generous  or  the  dews  less  refreshing. 
The  seasons  also  came  in  their  usual  rounds  the 
same  as  of  old.  The  land  was  all  there,  but  what 
had  become  of  the  old  farm?  It  had  gone,  for  I 
soon  discovered  that  my  other  crops  were  in  pro- 
portion to  my  wheat  crop:  I  was  not  able  to  figure 
out  anything  but  a  loss  all  the  way  through. 

The  old  farm  as  I  knsw  it  had  disappeared;  its 
fields  were  as  beautiful,  its  meadows  as  peaceful, 
its  woodland  as  delightful,  its  brook  as  charming, 
and  its  shady  lane  as  inviting  as  ever,  but  the  old 
farm  had  gone.  It  had  been  sold  by  the  pound,  by 
the  bushel,  and  by  the  ton,  peddled  out  along  the 
wharves  of  the  metropolis,  sent  away  to  foreign  mar- 


42  Soiling. 

kets,  and  finally  washed  into  the  sea,  and  this  is 
how  it  happened  that,  as  I  said  in  the  beginning, 
"the  number  of  cattle  had  been  reduced  by  half, 
and  the  flock  of  sheep  had  disappeared  entirely." 

"  And  is  this  what  they  call  farming?  "  I  asked 
myself.  "  Is  this  the  most  independent  life  that  a 
man  can  lead? "  It  seemed  to  me  that  this  sort  of 
thing  was  mere  drudgery,  and  of  all  things  the  most 
dependent  life  a  man  could  lead.  I  was  simply 
working  for  my  board  and  clothes,  and  running  in 
debt  for  the  latter  on  a  farm  of  127  acres,  worth  at 
that  time  $125  an  acre,  representing  an  investment 
of  $15,875.  "Is  this  the  most  healthful  occupation 
a  man  can  lead? "  It  looked  to  me  to  be  a  short  cut 
to  a  premature  grave.  Was  this  the  calling  that  all 
other  men  envied,  and  the  source  of  wealth?  It 
looked  to  me  as  if  selling  peanuts  on  the  street 
corner  at  a  profit  was  much  more  enjoyable. 

It  seemed  to  me  as  if  there  was  more  independ- 
ence in  a  ten-acre  clearing  full  of  stumps  where 
wheat  could  be  grown  at  a  profit,  than  in  a  i27-acre 
farm  where  it  was  grown  at  a  loss. 

In  making  this  general  survey  of  the  situation,  I 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  only  way  of  redeem- 
ing the  fertility  of  the  soil  was  the  proper  application 
of  barnyard  manure.  Commercial  fertilizers  were 
not  the  fashion  at  that  time ;  even  if  they  had  been, 
their  purchase  was  hardly  to  be  considered,  for  some 
of  my  neighbors  who  had  tried  them  in  gravelly  soil 
said  that  they  did  not  pay.  The  farm  was  four  miles 
from  town,  so  that  the  purchase  of  stable  manure  was 


Soiling.  43 

out  of  the  question.  But  there  was  no  use  going  on 
without  manure.  Here  came  the  rub.  How  was  I 
to  increase  my  stock  when  the  few  head  I  already 
had  were  not  more  than  half  fed? 

My  faith  from  the  first  was  in  barnyard  manure,  but 
how  to  get  it,  that  was  the  question.  I  drifted  along 
through  the  first  winter  into  the  next  summer,  when 
presently  I  found  the  solution  of  the  whole  question 
worked  out  on  my  own  place  for  me,  and  in  a  way  I 
least  expected.  The  answer  to  the  problem  was, 
"  Soiling. "  I  was  forced  into  it  against  my  will.  I 
at  first  fought  desperately,  but  soiling  came  out 
ahead,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  next  chapter.  I  give 
this  personal  experience  so  that  if  the  reader  is  one 
who  finds  himself  in  a  similar  predicament  (and  I 
know  thousands  of  my  fellow  farmers  are  or  are 
very  near  it),  they  may  take  heart  and  find  some  re- 
lief in  the  same  direction,  and,  instead  of  rebelling 
against  the  way  in  which  fate  seems  to  be  leading 
them,  turn  squarely  about  and  go  the  way  she 
points.  I  give  this  experience  also  for  the  benefit 
of  the  farmer  whose  faith  is  in  barnyard  manure  in- 
stead of  in  commercial  fertilizer.  He  will  see,  as 
perhaps  no  other  can,  how  his  fondest  hopes  may  be 
more  than  realized,  i.e.,  how  he  can  manufacture 
five  times  as  much  barnyard  manure  as  formerly 
and  keep  the  same  amount  of  ground  under  cultiva- 
tion for  marketable  crops.  How  he  can  always  be 
sure,  beyond  any  doubt,  that  he  is  returning  to  the 
soil  yearly  more  plant  food  than  he  is  taking  from 
it,  which  means  an  increased  fertility  of  the  soil; 


44  Soiling. 

which  means  larger  crops;  which  means  more 
profit ;  which  means  more  books  and  papers,  a  bet- 
ter seat  in  the  cars,  at  church,  and  at  the  theatre ; 
better  clothes,  more  recreation  for  himself,  and  a 
higher  social  position  for  his  family. 

In  a  word  it  puts  the  man  on  the  road  to  inde- 
pendence, and  shows  that  a  farmer's  life  after  all  is 
not  the  most  dependent  life  a  man  can  lead;  and 
that  in  spite  of  the  foreigners  the  Government  keeps 
setting  up  in  the  farming  business,  in  spite  of  being 
smothered  by  over-production,  he  may  still  pursue 
farming  with  the  respect  to  himself  and  family  that 
men  of  other  professions  enjoy,  where  an  equal 
amount  of  capital  is  invested. 

How  I  HAPPENED  TO  ADOPT  SOILING. 

As  I  was  saying  in  the  last  chapter,  I  drifted  along 
until  the  following  summer.  I  was  very  much  dis- 
couraged. I  saw  no  hope  for  anything  better.  I 
tried  to  make  myself  believe  that  the  year  before 
had  been  a  bad  season,  an  excuse  that  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  of  farmers  are  yearly  making 
as  an  apology  for  poor  crops;  the  worst  of  it  is  that 
they  seem  to  succeed  in  making  themselves  believe 
it.  But  I  have  long  since  noticed  that  a  season  too 
wet  or  a  season  too  dry  affects  principally  men  who 
have  farms  like  mine,  farms  that  have  been  robbed 
of  their  fertility.  It  is  usually  an  apology  for  not 
knowing  how  to  farm ;  shifting  it  onto  the  weather 
is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world,  but  although  I  tried 
to  work  that  excuse  on  myself,  somehow  it  failed. 


Soiling.  45 

Finally,  it  came  about  the  middle  or  last  of  June, 
and  my  cattle  began  to  get  unruly.  (I  only  had  six 
head — think  of  only  six  cows  and  five  horses  on  too 
acres  of  tillable  land!  No  wonder  the  fertility  of 
the  old  farm  had  gone.) 

The  old  tumbled-down  fences  were  no  hindrance 
to  the  natural  taste  for  adventure  and  desire,  to 
roam,  which  became  magnified  as  the  condition  of 
the  pasture  diminished,  and  the  spirit  that  entered 
the  swine,  or  some  that  was  left  over,  seemed  to  fill 
them  in  proportion  as  their  stomachs  became  empty. 
They  went  wild  themselves,  and  drove  all  hands 
nearly  crazy.  It  was  just  at  a  time  of  year  when 
farm  work  was  driving,  and,  therefore,  no  time  to 
build  fences. 

In  fact,  after  a  week  or  two  of  schooling  over  the 
old  fences  surrounding  the  pasture,  nothing  was  too 
high  for  them  to  get  over.  My  cows,  every  one  of 
them,  were  so  proficient  in  jumping  that  they  were 
fit  to  ride  across  any  country  to  hounds,  and  as  to 
speed,  any  farm  lad  knows  how  a  steer  can  run 
through  the  corn.  I  remember  driving  them  out  of 
the  corn  myself  one  day,  and  having  them  jump  back 
again  in  another  place  while  I  was  patching  up  the 
first  breach. 

If  there  could  only  have  been  a  precipice  where 
they  could  have  run  violently  down  into  the  sea  and 
all  have  been  drowned,  I  should  have  been  a  most 
happy  spectator. 

The  sleepless  nights,  the  worry,  the  anxiety,  the 
miserable .  fences  that  could  not  be  fixed  were  all 


46  Soiling. 

more  exhausting  than  a  hard  day's  work  after  the 
plow  or  in  the  harvest  field,  and  that  had  to  be  done 
besides.  One  day  I  was  called  from  home,  and 
when  I  returned,  I  asked  my  man  if  he  had  finished 
a  certain  piece  of  work  I  was  particularly  anxious  to 
have  accomplished  that  day.  "  No,  sir.  The  cattle 
got  out,  and  it  took  me  nearly  all  the  forenoon  to 
get  them  back  again  and  mend  the  fence. "  "  Did 
you  deliver  the  butter  to  the  station  this  afternoon, 
as  I  told  you?"  "No,  sir.  Just  as  I  was  starting 
for  the  station,  the  cattle  broke  out  again,  and  be- 
fore I  could  get  them  back  it  was  too  late  to  get  to 
the  train. "  That  was  the  last  straw.  He  told  how 
he  had  chased  the  unruly  brutes  through  the  corn, 
in  language  that  cannot  be  printed. 

I  was  pleased,  however,  to  hear  him  express  my 
own  sentiments  so  forcibly.  "  I  can't  stay  here,  sir, 
if  this  thing  goes  on  much  longer."  "  I  don't  blame 
you,  Pat,"  I  replied.  "I  have  a  notion  to  quit  my- 
self, but  I  can't  spare  you.  There  would  be  no  one 
here  to  speak  of  the  brutes  as  they  deserve  if  you 
should  go.  Shut  them  in  the  barnyard  at  once,  and 
feed  them  hay  until  we  can  cut  some  clover.  We 
will  rig  up  the  mower  and  feed  them  green  clover 
in  the  barnyard.  They  will  not  jump  that  eight- 
foot  barnyard  fence,  will  they,  do  you  think?" 
"Sure,  you  will  have  to  lock  up  the  ladder,"  said 
Pat,  whose  ready  tongue  never  forsook  him,  "or 
they  will  be  climbing  over  it. "  Thus  we  began  soil- 
ing. 

For  a  few  days  the  cows  were  restless  and  home- 


Soiling.  47 

sick,  and  evidently  pining  for  a  gallop  through  the 
corn,  but  when  we  began  feeding  them  green 
clover  and  they  were  thoroughly  filled  they  became 
reconciled  and  peaceable. 

There  is  nothing  like  a  full  stomach  to  make  a 
cow  the  most  quiet  and  contented  animal  on  the 
farm.  The  discontent  they  manifested  the  first 
week  or  so  made  me  sorry  for  them,  and  if  there 
had  been  a  place  to  turn  them,  they  would,  no 
doubt,  have  gone  out  of  the  yard,  and  thus  would 
have  ended  my  experience  in  soiling.  Fortunately 
there  was  no  such  place.  At  first  we  began  feeding 
them  in  open  racks  in  the  barnyard,  but  this  proved 
a  failure.  One  boss  cow  would  master  the  whole 
rack  and  succeeded  in  nearly  goring  a  heifer. 
Again  I  was  wishing  I  could  turn  them  out.  There 
was  only  one  alternative,  i.e.,  to  fasten  them  in  their 
winter  stalls  and  feed  them  there.  This  we  did,  turn- 
ing them  out  nights.  I  took  care  not  to  let  my  neigh- 
bors know  about  this,  for  I  knew  they  would  laugh 
at  me.  Such  a  thing  had  never  been  heard  of  in 
that  vicinity. 

Let  me  say  right  here,  that  I  believe  it  is  at  this 
point  that  many  a  man  who  has  tried  soiling  has 
failed  or  became  discouraged.  They  have  at- 
tempted partial  soiling,  when  they  have  experienced 
all  the  inconveniences  and  only  a  small  part  of  the 
benefits,  and  this  is  the  case  with  everything  else 
that  is  half  done.  As  soon  as  we  put  the  cattle  in 
the  barn,  and  tied  them  in  their  stalls,  they  began  to 
gain  wonderfully  in  flow  of  milk  and  to  thrive  be- 


48  Soiling.. 

yond  all  expectation.  I  was  surprised  also  at  the 
very  small  amount  of  ground  required  daily  to  sup- 
port them  handsomely,  and  I  was  still  more  sur- 
prised to  find  that  the  extra  labor  required  to  feed 
the  cows  and  cut  the  clover  in  this  manner  was 
nothing  like  what  I  had  imagined  it  would  be,  and 
then  it  dawned  upon  me  that  I  might  do  this  way 
all  summer.  Why  not  keep  twelve  cows  instead  of 
six?  Make  twice  as  much  manure,  and  manure 
twice  as  good  in  quality,  which  amounts  to  four 
times  as  much.  That's  the  thing  to  do,  and  the 
greatest  load  I  ever  attempted  to  carry  in  the  form 
of  a  business  enterprise  was  saddled  onto  soiling, 
and  I  found  soiling  quite  able  to  carry  it  and  much 
more  besides.  Thus  began  what  proved  to  be  the 
most  successful  and  most  economical  method  of 
feeding  farm  stock.  Thus  I  found  a  solution  to  the 
question,  How  to  enrich  the  farm  in  a  sure  and 
economical  way ;  how  to  supply  the  farm  stock  with 
the  most  nutrious  food  at  the  least  cost ;  how  to  ob- 
tain a  full  flow  of  milk  from  our  cows  during  the 
entire  season,  independently  of  parched  pastures; 
how  to  increase  the  number  of  farm  stock  and  the 
acreage  of  the  farm  without  buying  more  land. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ADVANTAGES  OF   SOILING. 

THE  advantages  of  soiling  over  pasturing  are  nu- 
merous. The  principal  reasons  for  its  adoption 
may  be  found  under  the  following  headings:  ist. 
Saving  the  land.  2d.  Saving  of  fences.  3d.  Sav- 
ing of  food.  4th.  The  better  condition  and  greater 
comfort  of  farm  animals.  5th.  The  greater  produc- 
tion of  beef,  milk,  wool,  or  mutton.  6th.  The  in- 
creased quantity  and  quality  of  barnyard  manure. 
7th.  The  increased  fertility  of  the  soil.'  8th.  The 
increased  acreage  of  the  farm. 

The  disadvantage  of  the  system  as  compared  with 
pasturing  is  extra  labor. 

THE  SAVING  OF  LAND. 

Says  the  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy,  whose  experience 
in  soiling  covered  a  period  of  eighteen  years:  "  One 
acre  soiled  from  will  produce  as  much  as  three  acres 
pastured  in  the  usual  way,  and  there  is  no  proposi- 
tion in  nature  more  true  than  that  any  good  farmer 
may  maintain  upon  thirty  acres  of  land  twenty  head 
of  cattle  the  year  round. "  He  adds :  "  My  own  ex- 
perience has  always  been  less  than  this,  having  ex- 
ceeded seventeen  acres  for  twenty  head. " 

Mr.  Henry  Stewart,  of  New  York,  says :  "  I  have 
4 


50  Soiling. 

kept  the  same  amount  of  stock  by  soiling  on  seven- 
teen acres  that  I  previously  kept  on  fifty  acres." 

By  soiling,  D.  J.  Powell,  of  Winchester,  keeps  100 
cows  on  100  acres,  and  he  adds  that  "with  complete 
soiling  I  have  kept  fourteen  cows  on  eleven  acres 
the  year  around,  with  the  help  of  a  few  loads  of 
brewer's  grains  and  some  bran  and  meal." 

Where  land  is  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation  some 
farmers  claim  to  keep  as  many  as  seven  and  eight 
head  by  soiling  where  they  were  able  to  keep  but 
one  by  pasturing.  I  think,  as  a  rule,  it  is  safe  to 
say  that,  whatever  land  is  required  to  support  a 
full-grown  animal  during  the  pasturing  season,  the 
same  land  will  support  five  or  six  head  by  soiling. 
My  own  experience  has  been  even  better  than  this. 
My  farm  at  Maple  Lane  contained  just  about  100 
acres  of  land  inside  the  fences,  after  taking  out  roads, 
lanes,  buildings,  and  woodland.  On  this  loo-acre 
farm,  before  adopting  soiling,  I  was  only  able  to 
support  twelve  head  of  stock,  which  required  of  hay 
and  pasture  sixty  acres  per  year,  or  five  acres  per 
head,  which  I  find  is  about  the  usual  amount 
throughout  the  country  on  good  and  fairly  produc- 
tive farms.  This  left  forty  acres  for  marketable 
crops. 

After  adopting  the  soiling  system,  the  number  of 
farm  stock  increased  until  I  had  thirteen  age  cows, 
five  yearlings,  four  calves,  four  horses,  two  colts, 
and  seventy  long-wooled  (Cotswold)  sheep.  Esti- 
mating 1,000  Ib.  for  a  full-grown  animal,  this  was 
equivalent  to  thirty-six  head.  These  thirty-six 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  51 

head  were  supported  from  the  product  of  thirty 
acres  of  land.  This  was  the  average  for  three 
years.  This  left  me  seventy  acres  for  marketable 
crops.  It  will  be  seen  that  while  I  was  keeping 
three  times  as  much  stock  as  formerly,  I  did  so  on 
just  half  the  land,  and  at  the  same  time  nearly 
doubled  the  acreage  of  marketable  crops.  What 
does  this  mean?  It  means  that  thirty-six  head  at 
hay  and  pasture  would  have  required  180  acres. 
The  capacity  of  my  farm  was,  therefore,  increased 
from  sixty  to  180,  an  increase  of  120  acres.  The 
acreage  of  my  farm  for  marketable  crops  was  in- 
creased from  forty  to  seventy,  an  increase  of  thirty 
acres,  or  a  total  increase  of  150  acres  without  buy- 
ing a  rod  of  land.  So  much  for  the  saving  of  land. 
In  other  words,  any  loo-acre  farm  that  will  support 
twenty  head  of  cattle  by  hay  and  pasture  (and  that's 
about  all  it  will  do  unless  it  is  in  a  very  high  state  of 
cultivation),  that  same  farm  by  soiling  will  support, 
and  in  much  better  condition,  100  head  of  cattle. 
So  far  as  soiling  alone  is  concerned,  if  you  were  to 
buy  a  farm  to  support  100  head  of  cattle,  and  your 
method  was  hay  and  pasture,  you  would  require  at 
least  500  acres,  to  say  nothing  about  grain.  Where- 
as, if  you  adopt  a  strict  soiling  system,  as  hereafter 
described,  you  would  be  required  to  buy  only  100 
acres,  a  saving  of  400  acres.  Is  this  not  worth  an 
effort?  Can  you  not  afford  a  little  extra  labor  to 
make  a  loo-acre  farm  support  100  head  of  cattle  in- 
stead of  twenty?  We  shall  discuss  this  point  further 
under  the  head  of  extra  labor.  It  may  be  asked, 


52  Soiling. 

"  How  can  a  farm  support  such  a  heavy  cropping?  'r 
You  will  notice  that  where  I  had  not  quite  doubled 
my  acreage  for  marketable  crops,  I  had  three  head 
of  cattle  for  every  one  formerly  kept.  Nor  was  this 
all.  My  stock  was  not  only  producing  three  times 
as  much  barnyard  manure  in  quantity,  but  its  qual- 
ity, especially  during  the  summer  months,  was  at 
least  doubled  compared  to  what  it  would  have  been 
if  made  at  pasture,  where  it  is  mostly  destroyed  by 
bugs  and  worms,  or  makes  a  rank  growth  where  it 
drops,  which  all  cattle  shun  for  a  year  to  come,  and 
will  only  eat  of  it  when  absolute  hunger  compels 
them.  There  is  another  item  of  saving  of  land. 
All  the  land  occupied  by  inside  fences  may  be  saved 
and  turned  to  producing  crops  instead  of  being  a 
yearly  expense. 

Here  is  a  sample  of  how  the  soiling  system  works, 
and  may  be  demonstrated  by  any  one  who  has  the 
courage  to  try.  May  i,  1880,  we  turned  twelve 
milch  cows  to  pasture  in  a  field  containing  four  and 
one-half  acres.  At  the  end  of  the  fourth  week  we 
were  obliged  to  take  them  out,  as  they  were  getting 
very  thin  and  shrinking  badly  in  flow  of  milk.  The 
pasture  was  exhausted.  They  were  turned  into  the 
sheep  pasture  until  June  yth,  when  we  began  soiling 
them,  and  the  same  twelve  head  were  supported  with 
all  they  could  possibly  consume  for  the  next  four 
months  from  the  product  of  four  acres,  making  one 
acre  soiled  from  equal  to  four  pastured,  while  the 
condition  and  comfort  of  the  stock  was  so  much  bet- 
ter, and  their  yields  so  much  greater,  that  there  was 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  53 

really  no  comparison  between  the  two  systems.  The 
value  of  the  four  acres  pastured  at  50  cents  per  week 
per  head  would  be  $24,  while  the  four  acres  soiled  at 
the  same  rate  gave  a  feeding  value  of  $96,  a  differ- 
ence in  favor  of  soiling  in  the  saving  of  land  of  $72. 
While  this  question  of  the  saving  of  land  is  being  dis- 
cussed, it  is  to  be  emphasized  that  in  this  particular 
lies  the  great  advantage  of  soiling  and  ensilage  over 
pasturage  and  hay.  Experimental  stations  figure 
and  analyze  and  show  green  crops  but  little  better 
than  hay  and  ensilage,  but  little  better  than  cured 
forage,  and  they  go  into  hair-splitting  discussions 
on  this  line,  forgetting  that  the  great  undeniable 
advantage  that  soiling  and  ensilage  have  over  pas- 
ture and  hay  is  that  the  soiling  system  enables  the 
farmer  to  increase  his  acreage  without  buying  more 
land.  This  work  will  not  enter  at  all  into  the  differ- 
ence in  feeding  value  of  green  and  cured  forage. 
The  soiling  system  gives  the  farmer  such  an  enor- 
mous gain  in  the  saving  of  land  that  all  other 
questions  are  small  and  insignificant  in  comparison. 

Particular  stress  is  laid  on  this  point,  because  it 
is  so  often  lost  sight  of  in  discussing  this  ques- 
tion, especially  by  experimental  stations.  To  re- 
peat, if  there  was  not  another  single  advantage  of 
soiling  summer  and  winter  over  the  usual  way  for 
feeding,  this  question  of  saving  of  lands  is  so  great 
and  undeniable  that  the  reader  need  not  look  be- 
yond it.  However,  there  are  other  advantages 
which  may  be  discussed,  and  several  of  them  are 
quite  enough  in  themselves  to  warrant  adopting 


54  Soiling. 

the  system,  but  the  one  grand  object  is  and  always 
must  be  the  saving  of  land  or  the  increased  acreage 
of  the  farm. 

SAVING  OF  FENCES. 

In  some  sections  of  the  old  countries  where  the 
soiling  system  is  generally  practised,  the  farmers 
have  done  away  with  interior  and  boundary  fences, 
setting  landmarks  to  indicate  lines,  and  thereby 
working  every  foot  of  land.  Says  Mr.  A.  W. 
Cheever,  in  "  The  Country  Gentleman  " :  "  Another 
great  advantage  I  find  in  soiling  over  pasturing  is 
the  saving  of  fences.  None  of  my  mowing  or  culti- 
vated fields  are  pastured  at  all,  so  that  I  have  been 
enabled  to  dispense  with  all  inside  fences,  and  lately 
have  been  giving  up  the  use  of  road  fencing  also." 

No  farmer  will  disagree  with  me  in  saying  that 
farm  fences  are  great  nuisances,  harbors  for  rats, 
mice,  and  vermin,  most  convenient  places  for  nox- 
ious weeds  and  grasses,  and  great  hindrances  in 
every  stage  of  farm  work.  For  instance,  if  we  wish 
to  cultivate  two  fields  adjoining  each  other  but 
separated  by  a  fence,  we  must  stop  and  turn  about 
as  we  approach  the  fence  from  either  side  in  plow- 
ing, harrowing,  cultivating,  rolling,  drilling,  reap- 
ing, and  raking.  Thus  in  growing  a  crop  of  corn, 
with  a  fence  forty  rods  long  it  would  require  about 
1,500  or  i, 600  turnings,  and  for  wheat  1,200  or 
1,400,  according  to  the  mode  of  culture.  All  this 
wastes  time,  besides  trampling  down  the  ground  and 
crops.  As  Mr.  Quincy  says,  "  The  whole  farm  may 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  55 

be  divided  and  cultivated  with  precise  reference  to 
the  state  of  the  soil,  when  the  plow  runs  the  length 
of  the  furrow  determined  by  the  judgment  of  the 
proprietor."  His  farm  at  one  time  had  five  miles  of 
interior  fence  (equal  to  1,600  rods),  of  which  he 
says,  "  I  have  not  now  one  rod  of  interior  fence ;  of 
course,  the  saving  is  great,  distinct,  and  undeniable." 
My  own  farm  was  at  one  time  divided  into  seven- 
teen fields,  which  required  over  1,000  rods  of  inte- 
rior fence,  the  interest  on  the  cost  of  which  would 
pay  the  taxes  on  the  entire  property,  or  pay  for  all 
extra  labor  of  soiling  twelve  or  fourteen  head  of 
stock,  to  say  nothing  of  the  cost  of  yearly  repairs. 
I  built  some  300  rods  of  fence  soon  after  coming  on 
the  farm.  It  hardly  made  a  showing  compared  to 
what  was  needed.  It  would  have  required  an  out- 
lay of  $1,000  to  put  all  the  fences  in  proper  shape, 
and  for  what?  Simply  to  keep  twelve  head  of  stock 
from  destroying  the  crops.  Each  field  must  be 
fenced,  for,  by  the  rotation  of  crops,  each  field  was 
in  turn  pastured. 

Reader,  if  you  are  a  farmer,  don't  build  another 
rod  of  fence  until  you  have  given  the  soiling  system 
a  fair  trial  and  find  it  a  failure.  Says  D.  S.  Curtis 
on  the  cost  of  fencing,  in  the  Agricultural  Report  of 
1859:  "The  most  ordinary  plain  board  fences  cost  8 
to  10  shillings  per  rod,  and  more  in  many  places, 
while  rail  fences  are  often  still  more  costly.  But 
taking  the  lowest  estimate,  $i  per  rod,  the  expense 
of  enclosing  an  eighty-acre  lot  would  be  $480 ;  two 
cross  fences,  one  each  way,  throwing  the  lot  into 


56  Soiling. 

four  twenty-acre  fields,  would  cost  $240  more,  a 
larger  sum  than  the  value  of  the  land  in  many  lo- 
calities." As  Mr.  A.  E.  Stewart  says,  "Soiling  ef- 
fectually settles  the  fence  question." 

SAVING  OF  FOOD. 

The  great  trouble  with  cows  or  any  stock  at  pas- 
ture is  that  they  soon  find  certain  sweet  grasses  that 
particularly  suit  their  taste,  and  to  obtain  these 
they  tramp,  tramp,  tramp.  Notice  a  lot  of  cows 
turned  into  a  field  of  clover  or  grass.  They  drop 
their  heads  as  soon  as  they  are  through  the  gate,  and 
for  a  few  moments  they  eat  it  as  it  comes.  As  soon 
as  their  keenest  hunger  is  satisfied  away  they  go. 
A  cow  sees  another  cow  eating  quietly  in  a  certain 
spot,  and  she  starts  over  there  thinking  she  has 
something  good.  They  finally  find  certain  small 
patches  in  any  field  where  the  feed  is  very  sweet. 
This  they  cut  down  close  to  the  ground,  and  it  is 
these  sweets  that  destroy  their  taste  for  anything 
else.  It  is  like  turning  a  lot  of  children  loose  in  a 
bake  shop  and  confectionery  store.  At  first  they 
can  eat  ordinary  bread  and  butter,  but  presently 
they  throw  it  away  for  cookies,  after  that  they 
throw  away  cookies  for  candy,  and,  finally,  they  are 
always  hunting  for  candy  and  cookies.  That  is  a 
fair  comparison  to  a  lot  of  cows  turned  into  a  good 
pasture  and  allowed  to  help  themselves.  Nothing 
tastes  good  to  them  but  the  very  sweetest  grasses, 
and  they  actually  go  hungry  in  the  midst  of  plenty 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  57 

and  tramp,  tramp,  tramp,  in  search  of  sweets.  If 
you  go  into  the  same  field  and  cut  it  as  it  comes, 
with  a  scythe,  and  feed  it  to  them  in  the  barn,  they 
eat  the  good,  the  better,  and  the  best,  weeds  and  all, 
and  do  well  on  it.  To  find  that  best  and  sweetest 
mouthful,  they  have  trampled  as  much  as  they  will 
eat.  They  have  wasted  a  lot  of  energy  that  might 
have  been  put  to  a  better  and  more  profitable  use, 
seeking  it;  gone  hungry,  or  next  thing  to  it,  be- 
cause they  could  not  find  enough  to  fill  their  stom- 
achs of  the  best,  and  come  to  the  barn  at  night 
weary  and  tired.  Of  all  extravagant,  wasteful  hab- 
its, the  pasturing  system  has  no  equal.  Tethering 
is  a  great  improvement  in  this  respect,  if  the  cattle 
must  go  out.  Tethering  will  be  discussed  more 
fully  later  on. 

There  are  several  ways  in  which  farm  stock  de- 
stroy their  feed  while  at  pasture,  by  tramping  it  un- 
der foot,  by  their  dung  and  urine,  and  by  lying  on 
it.  The  more  productive  the  pasture,  the  greater 
the  loss.  Just  how  much  is  wasted  by  these  means, 
I  do  not  know.  Some  estimate  it  at  one-third, 
others  at  a  half.  Another  item  of  more  or  less  im- 
portance is  that  it  is  not  so  exhaustive  of  the  soil  to 
grow  a  crop  of  hay  from  it  as  to  use  it  as  pasture, 
especially  if  the  grass  of  the  pasture  be  closely 
cropped,  thus  leaving  the  soil  more  exposed  to  the 
sun.  All  these  objections  are  overcome  by  soiling. 
The  food  may  be  cut  at  just  the  proper  time,  when 
the  leaves  and  blossoms  have  reached  their  full  de- 
velopment. It  is  often  noticed  that,  here  and  there 


58  Soiling. 

in  a  field,  patches  of  distasteful  grasses  or  noxious 
weeds  are  left  untouched  by  the  stock,  except  in 
case  of  great  hunger,  and  allowed  to  go  to  seed. 
The  seed  is  scattered  about  the  field  and  pressed 
into  the  soil  under  the  hoofs  of  the  feeding  stock. 
In  time  the  pasture  thus  becomes  only  a  garden  of 
weeds.  This  would  never  occur  were  the  practice 
of  cutting  adopted.  Mr.  Youatt,  an  English  author, 
says,  in  his  valuable  work,  "  The  Complete  Grazier  " : 
"  If  a  close  consumption  of  plants  is  the  object  prin- 
cipally regarded,  it  is  evident  that  the  benefit  to  be 
derived  from  soiling  will  be  very  great ;  for  experi- 
ence has  clearly  proved  that  cattle  will  eat  many 
plants  with  avidity,  if  cut  and  given  to  them  in  the 
barn,  which  they  would  never  touch  while  growing 
in  the  field." 

THE    BETTER    CONDITION    AND    GREATER    COMFORT 
OF  FARM  STOCK. 

On  this  question  there  is  no  chance  whatever  for 
argument.  The  difference  in  the  condition  of  cattle 
soiled  and  those  at  pasture  is  decidedly  and  positive- 
ly in  favor  of  soiling. 

In  the  first  place,  all  animals  that  chew  the  cud 
are  particularly  adapted  to  the  soiling  system  for 
several  reasons.  The  very  nature  of  their  digestive 
organs  shows  that  they  are  best  provided  for  when 
they  can  have  their  feed  in  abundance  and  near  at 
hand.  Their  habit  is  to  collect  their  food  quickly 
until  the  first  stomach  or  paunch  is  full.  This  first 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  59 

stomach  is  used  as  a  basket  or  receptacle  into  which 
they  store  their  food.  When  full  they  lie  down, 
and  it  is  then  that  the  feeding  proper  begins. 
When  a  cow  or  sheep  or  other  ruminating  animals 
are  grazing,  they  are  not,  as  many  suppose,  in  the  act 
of  eating.  They  are  simply  gathering  or  collecting 
their  food.  The  sooner  they  can  do  this  collecting 
the  better,  because  they  do  not  like  to  begin  eating 
until  the  basket  is  well  filled.  Besides,  the  less  time 
it  takes  to  fill  the  basket,  the  more  time  they  have 
to  eat  and  convert  it  into  the  desired  product. 
Again,  if  they  must  waste  a  lot  of  energy  and  mus- 
cular force  carrying  themselves  about,  as  they  do 
when  required  to  fill  their  baskets  from  a  scanty 
pasture,  that  wasted  energy,  which  is  all  at  the  ex- 
pense of  food,  as  already  shown,  might  better  be 
employed  in  producing  milk  or  butter.  After  the 
animals  have  filled  this  first  paunch  or  basket,  their 
habit,  as  before  stated,  is  to  lie  down,  and  then  the 
feeding  properly  begins  by  bringing  up,  from  this 
first  stomach,  a  cud  at  a  time,  which  they  proceed  to 
masticate  thoroughly,  after  which  it  is  sent  to  the 
second  stomach,  and  so  on  to  the  third  and  fourth 
stomachs,  where  it  becomes  digested  and  assimi- 
lated with  the  blood  until  the  basket  is  emptied, 
when  the  cow  is  ready  to  collect  it  full  again. 
Looking  at  the  cow  as  a  machine  it  will  be  seen 
that  when  she  does  not  have  to  seek  her  food  by 
walking  miles  for  it  in  the  hot  sun,  annoyed  by 
the  flies,  etc.,  she  is  able  to  convert  the  largest 
amount  of  feed  into  the  product  her  owner  requires 


60  Soiling. 

at  the  least  possible  outlay  of  her  strength,  and  the 
more  basketsful  of  grass  or  forage  she  can  make 
way  with  in  a  day  the  more  profitable  a  machine 
she  must  become. 

A  few  years  ago,  when  the  Mohawk  Valley  was 
the  principal  dairy  section  of  the  State,  we  are  told 
that  it  was  the  custom  of  the  farmers  and  dairymen 
to  cut  down  all  the  shade  trees  in  their  fields  so  that 
the  cows  would  not  be  wasting  time  lying  under 
them,  when,  as  the  owners  thought,  they  should  be 
up  and  at  work.  They  also  had  boys  going  about 
to  drive  their  cattle  up  when  they  attempted  to  lie 
down.  They  said  truthfully  that  milk  was  made 
from  grass,  and  a  cow  was  a  machine,  and  she  must 
eat  so  much  to  supply  her  own  wants.  The  more 
she  can  be  induced  to  eat  in  a  day  the  greater  will 
be  her  returns  to  the  owner.  But  they  based  their 
reasoning  on  a  mistaken  notion,  i.e.,  that  a  cow  was 
feeding  or  eating  when  she  was  grazing  or  collect- 
ing her  food.  While  they  were  perfectly  correct  in 
assuming  that  their  cattle  were  machines,  and  the 
owners'  profit  depended  upon  the  amount  of  food  the 
animals  could  be  made  to  consume  above  what  they 
required  to  heat  their  blood  and  supply  their  waste, 
they  were  entirely  wrong  in  supposing  that  a  cow 
was  serving  their  best  interests  by  being  kept  on 
her  feet.  The  next  thing  is  to  provide  them  with 
the  greatest  possible  comfort,  so  that  when  a  cargo 
is  ready  for  the  mill,  the  mill  will  be  in  as  perfect 
running  order  as  possible.  That  is  to  say,  when  the 
cow  lies  down  and  the  milling  begins,  she  will  have 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  61 

a  comfortable  resting-place,  clean,  dry,  and  easy. 
No  one  would  think  of  starting  a  factory  with- 
out first  oiling  the  machinery,  and  so  adjusting 
its  parts  that  it  will  run  with  the  greatest  possible 
ease.  The  tie  should  be  such  as  will  enable  her  to 
lie  in  a  perfectly  natural  position.  When  you  have 
provided  the  raw  materials  and  everything  is  oiled 
and  ready,  your  cow  then  is  in  the  best  possible 
position  to  do  business  as  a  profitable  member  of  the 
farm  household.  With  a  well-contented  mind  and 
a  well-filled  stomach,  she  can  work  up  several  times 
as  many  cargoes  a  day  as  if  her  time  was  being 
spent  chasing  about  the  pasture  looking  for  sweets 
and  fighting  flies.  At  any  rate,  you,  as  manager 
and  proprietor  of  the  mill,  have  done  your  part,  and 
there  is  no  excuse  whatever  for  the  cow,  and  no  in- 
clination, you  will  find,  except  to  do  her  best  and  at- 
tend strictly  to  business.  Nor  is  the  question  of  the 
collection  of  their  food  with  the  least  possible  labor 
and  a  good  comfortable  place  in  which  to  lie  down 
the  only  thing  that  adds  to  the  greater  comfort  and 
better  condition  of  stock  soiled.  By  keeping  them 
in  their  stables  day-times,  they  are  protected  from 
the  enervating  heat  of  the  sun.  They  are  also  shel- 
tered from  storms,  secured  from  jumping  into  fields 
of  growing  grain  or  fruit  orchards.  They  are  pro- 
tected from  drinking  muddy,  impure  water  and 
against  thirst.  This  last  is  an  item  that  is  not,  as  a 
rule,  given  the  attention  it  deserves.  Milk  is  84^ 
per  cent,  water,  and  a  supply  of  good  fresh  water, 
close  at  hand,  is  a  very  important  item,  because, 


62  Soiling. 

when  a  cow  is  turned  to  pasture,  and  has  to  go 
to  a  distant  part  of  a  field  to  help  herself,  she 
waits  until  great  thirst  drives  her  to  it.  Finally, 
when  she  does  go,  instead  of  getting  a  drink  and 
returning  to  business,  she  overloads  her  stomach 
with  water,  and  stands  about  in  the  stream  or 
pond  until  absolute  hunger  drives  her  out  again. 
So  she  lives  on  from  day  to  day,  eating  only 
when  she  is  very  hungry,  and  drinking  only  when 
thirst  becomes  excessive.  The  soiling  system, 
with  a  good  well  or  spring  at  the  barn,  prevents 
all  this  annoyance,  and  is  no  small  matter  in  add- 
ing to  the  comfort  and  also  to  the  credit  account 
of  the  animal. 

Lastly,  and  perhaps  most  important  of  all,  so  far 
as  the  animals'  comfort  is  concerned,  by  a  proper 
system  of  soiling  the  cattle  are  protected  from 
flies,  those  awful  pests  that  sap  their  blood  and 
drive  them  to  a  state  little  short  of  frenzy.  How 
can  cattle  so  tormented  be  expected  to  do  a  good 
day's  work?  Living  in  the  best  of  pastures  after 
the  middle  of  June  is  simply  living  to  exist.  To 
show  skeptical  people  that  cattle  preferred  being  shut 
up  in  their  stables  in  fly-time,  to  roaming  at  will  in 
pastures,  I  have  turned  my  cattle  out — away  they 
would  go  with  their  tails  over  their  backs  until  the 
flies  got  after  them,  when  back  they  came  to  their 
stalls  as  fast  as  they  went. 

If  the  reader  could  see  the  difference  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  cattle  soiled  and  those  pastured  after 
the  beginning  of  fly-time,  he  would  see  such  a  con- 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  63 

trast  as  would  require  no  farther  argument  to  con- 
vince him  of  its  value. 

Look  at  that  poor,  gaunt  cow  as  she  comes  from  a 
pasture  field  after  a  hard  day's  work,  fighting  flies  un- 
til she  is  desperate,  and  sometimes  until  she  has 
given  up  in  despair,  too  exhausted  to  battle  longer 
against  them,  or  attempt  to  dislodge  them  as  they 
cluster  on  her  neck  and  back  undisturbed.  Notice 
her  shuffling  gait  and  melancholy  face,  the  picture 
of  despondency,  her  hair  standing  on  end.  Turn 
out  into  the  same  barnyard  a  cow  that  has  been 
properly  soiled  in  stables  darkened  to  exclude  the 
flies;  she  is  as  plump  as  partridges  after  wheat  har- 
vest. She  acts  like  a  school-boy  from  his  books, 
eyes  bright,  head  erect,  step  sprightly,  hair  sleek, 
stomach  full,  and  ready  for  a  frolic.  This  is  no 
fancy  sketch ;  indeed,  I  feel  as  if  I  had  failed  fully  to 
represent  the  great  contrast,  as  I  have  often  wit- 
nessed it.  I  feel  safe  in  saying  that  I  think  that  no 
candid  farmer,  however  prejudiced  he  may  be  against 
stabling  his  cows  in  summer,  would  need  any  other 
proof  to  convince  him  that,  so  far  as  the  greater  com- 
fort and  healthful  condition  of  the  stock  is  concerned, 
the  soiling  system  affords  the  most  gratifying  results, 
and  adds  materially  to  the  profits. 

GREATER  PRODUCTION  OF  BEEF,  MILK,  AND  BUTTER. 

On  this  question,  there  can  be  but  one  opinion, 
i.e.t  that  to  produce  either  beef,  milk,  or  butter,  the 
result  will  depend  upon  the  amount  of  food  con- 


64  Soiling. 

sumed,  and  the  profit  will  largely  depend  upon  fur- 
nishing our  stock  with  an  abundance  of  succulent 
food  during  the  entire  year.  To  accomplish  this 
independently  of  parched  pastures  and  drought  is 
not  a  difficult  matter  by  the  practice  of  soiling. 

The  following  testimony  as  to  the  superiority  of 
the  system  was  given  by  Mr.  E.  W.  Stewart,  in  an 
article  in  "The  Country  Gentleman":  "We  shall 
find  the  same  reasons  apply  in  still  greater  force,  in 
the  slaughter  of  beef  and  mutton.  Animals  in- 
tended for  slaughter  should  have  different  treatment 
from  those  whose  value  depends  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  muscle.  Those  reared  for  labor  need  much 
exercise,  as  well  as  appropriate  food,  for  strengthen- 
ing the  bony  and  muscular  system;  but  those  in- 
tended for  human  food  need  only  so  much  exercise 
as  promotes  health  and  a  vigorous  appetite.  And, 
as  we  have  seen,  soiling  gives  a  greater  command 
over  the  stfpply  of  food  at  all  times,  so  when  prop- 
erly conducted  it  must  afford  a  greater  certainty  of 
rapid  growth.  We  have  easily  grown  calves  on 
green  food  fed  in  the  yard,  together  with  skimmed 
milk,  that  weighed  700  Ib.  at  ten  months  old.  We 
have  uniformly  found  this  system  more  favorable  to 
the  growth  of  young  animals  than  pasturing — that 
less  milk  or  grain  in  addition  is  required  to  produce 
equal  growth.  And  steers  and  heifers  during  the 
second  year  will  make  a  steady  and  uniform  growth 
on  the  full  soiling  system,  with  the  liberty  of  a  small 
lot  for  exercise.  Animals  for  beef  or  milk  are  not 
grown  for  muscular  exercise.  They  need  most  full 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  65 

feeding,  fresh  air,  and  kind  attention.  The  skilful 
feeder  has  here  an  opportunity  to  observe  the  wants 
of  each  animal,  and  may  always  supply  them. 

"  There  must  be  no  standing  still  if  a  steer  is  to  gain 
two  pounds  for  every  day  of  its  age  up  to  900  days. 
German  and  French  beef  growers  adopt  largely  a 
strict  soiling  system,  and  produce  a  higher  average 
weight  at  a  given  age,  than  any  pasturing  people 
has  attained. 

"  Soiling  also  offers  the  opportunity  of  doing  the 
principal  fattening  in  warm  weather,  when  not  more 
than  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  food  is  required  to 
make  the  same  gain  as  in  winter.  We  tested  the 
comparative  effect  of  soiling  and  pasturing  on  the 
same  class  of  animals,  by  putting  five  two-year-old 
steers  and  heifers,  weighing  4,500  lb.,  into  a  good 
pasture,  while  five  of  the  same  age  and  condition, 
weighing  4,450  lb.,  were  soiled,  with  exercise  in  a 
small  yard,  and  at  the  end  of  four  months,  while 
those  in  pasture  had  gained  625  lb.,  the  five  soiled 
had  gained  75olb.,  with  nothing  but  green  soiling 
food,  making  the  two  lots  equal  in  kind  of  food. 
The  pasture,  although  good  and  abundant  when 
the  experiment  began,  did  not  continue  through- 
out equally  good  on  account  of  dry  weather,  while 
the  soiling  food  was  given  in  equal  abundance  to  the 
end." 

Mr.  Brown,  of  Mankle,  Scotland,  tried  the  com- 
parative merits  of  soiling  and  pasturing  in  fattening 
forty -eight  steers  equally  divided.  The  twenty-four 
soiled  brought  ^"377,  and  the  twenty-four  pastured 
5 


66  Soiling. 

^342,  a  difference  in  favor  of  soiling  of  ^35,  or  a 
profit  of  over  $7  per  head,  to  say  nothing  of  the  sav- 
ing of  land  and  the  increase  of  manure. 

In  regard  to  the  greater  production  of  milk  Mr. 
Stewart  relates  the  most  remarkable  test  of  the  two 
systems,  published  by  Dr.  Rhode,  of  the  Eidena 
Royal  Academy  of  Agriculture  of  Prussia.  It  was 
conducted  through  seven  years  of  pasturing,  and 
then  through  seven  years  of  soiling.  Mr.  Hermann 
is  the  experimenter.  The  pasturing  began  in  1853, 
and  ended  in  1859,  the  soiling  began  in  1860,  and 
ended  in  1866.  From  forty  to  seventy  cows  were 
pastured  each  year,  and  a  separate  account  kept 
with  each  cow.  The  lowest  average  per  cow  is  1,385 
qts.  in  1855,  when  seventy  cows  were  kept,  and  the 
highest  1,941  qts.  in  1859,  when  forty  cows  were  pas- 
tured, and  the  greatest  quantity  given  by  one  cow 
was  2,988  qts.  The  average  increased  during  the 
last  four  years  from  1,400  to  1,941  qts.  The  aver- 
age for  each  cow  for  the  whole  seven  years  of  pas- 
turing was  1,583  qts.  In  the  soiling  experiment 
twenty-nine  to  thirty-eight  cows  were  kept,  and  the 
lowest  average  per  cow  was  2,930  qts.  in  1862,  and  the 
highest  per  cow  was  4,000  qts.  in  1866.  The  highest 
quantity  given  by  one  cow  was  5,110  qts.  in  1866. 
The  average  per  cow  for  the  whole  seven  years  of 
soiling  was  3,442  qts.  The  yield  of  the  same  cow  is 
compared  for  different  years.  Cow  No.  4  gave  in 
1860,  3,636  qts.;  in  1863,  4,570  qts.;  in  1866,  4,960 
qts.  Cow  No.  24  gave  in  1860,  3,293  qts.;  in  1863, 
4,843  qts. ;  in  1866,  4,800  qts. 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  67 

Many  of  these  were  the  same  cows  in  both  experi- 
ments ;  and  it  will  seem  that  the  same  cow  increased 
from  year  to  year,  showing  what  full  feeding  will  do, 
and  also  another  important  fact,  that  this  full  feed- 
ing was  conducive  to  health  of  the  cow  during  the 
seven  years. 

Dr.  Wright  says  of  soiled  cows  that  they  "  will,  at 
least,  equal,  if  not  surpass,  those  kept  in  the  usual 
way,  in  both  quantity  and  quality  of  milk,  and  the 
dairyman,  by  adopting  this  method,  finds  his  profits 
enhanced  nearly  one-fourth."  An  English  author 
says,  "  The  cows  used  to  stall  feeding  will  yield  a 
much  greater  quantity  of  milk,  and  will  increase 
faster  in  weight  when  fattening,  than  those  which  go 
into  the  field." 

I  have  made  repeated  experiments  which  satisfied 
myself  in  regard  to  the  increase  of  milk  and  butter, 
and  with  the  exception  of  the  first  month  or  two 
(May  and  June)  I  have  never  failed  to  get  better 
results  from  the  soiling  system.  The  author  of 
"  Ogden  Farm  Papers,"  in  the  "  American  Agricultur- 
ist," has  a  very  interesting  article  on  the  subject  of 
soiling,  in  which  he  says :  "  The  product  of  cows  will 
be  more  in  the  case  of  soiling  than  in  the  other.  In 
June  I  was  making  a  very  satisfactory  amount  of 
butter.  So  were  the  pasture  men  all  around  me. 
Now  that  the  drought  has  (in  spite  of  passing  rains) 
begun  to  affect  the  pastures,  their  product  is  falling 
off,  and  by  September  will  be  materially  lessened. 
My  product  is  increasing  week  by  week,  until,  from 
the  same  number  of  cows,  it  is  now  more  than  ten 


68  Soiling. 

per  cent,  more  than  in  June,  and,  experience  of  pre- 
vious years  has  shown,  it  will  be  fully  ten  per  cent 
more  in  September  than  it  is  now. " 

THE  INCREASED  QUANTITY  AND    QUALITY    or 
MANURE. 

So  much  has  been  already  said  on  the  question  of 
manures,  that  the  reader  knows  what  a  high  value  I 
place  upon  that  produced  in  the  barnyard,  and  its 
comparison  with  the  costly  and  uncertain  results  ob- 
tained from  commercial  fertilizers. 

No  farmer  needs  to  be  told  that,  if  he  has  an 
abundant  supply  of  manure,  he  can  raise  large 
crops.  The  want  of  it,  more  than  any  one  thing 
connected  with  farming,  makes  thousands  of  farm- 
ers and  their  families  slaves  to  unremitting  toil, 
drudging  through  life,  when  if  one-quarter  of  the 
labor  that  is  spent  in  trying  to  subsist  by  cultivat- 
ing exhausted  soils  were  turned  to  accumulating  a 
restorative,  independence  would  take  the  place  of 
dependence,  and  the  farmer  enjoy  all  the  comforts 
implied  by  well-filled  barns  and  granaries. 

Manure  is  the  very  life  and  soul  of  husbandry.  It 
is  the  basis  of  vegetable  production,  the  substructure 
on  which  the  farmer  can  alone  hope  to  build  success- 
fully. The  attainment  of  manure  by  the  soiling 
system  is  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  characteristic 
benefits  to  be  derived  from  its  practice,  and  the 
amount  which  thus  naturally  accumulates  far  ex- 
ceeds all  anticipation.  All  who  have  had  practical 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  69 

experience  agree,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn, 
that  the  value  of  the  manure  made  under  this  system, 
when  properly  conducted,  is  worth  at  the  very  least 
twice  as  much  as  that  made  while  pasturing-,  where 
it  destroys  as  much  feed  as  its  virtue  enriches  the 
soil.  A  great  part  is  lost  by  falling  upon  rocks, 
among  bushes,  and  in  watercourses.  It  is  evapor- 
ated by  the  sun.  But  the  saving  of  land,  of  fences, 
of  food,  the  better  condition  and  greater  comfort  of 
the  farm  stock,  the  increase  in  the  production  of 
beef,  milk,  and  butter,  and  the  attainment  of  manure, 
are  all  subservient  and  subordinate  to  the  one  prime 
object  and  benefit  to  be  derived  from  the  system,  i.e., 

THE  INCREASED  PRODUCTIVENESS  OF  THE  SOIL. 

The  first,  greatest,  and  most  important  question 
that  can  occupy  the  attention  of  Eastern  farmers  is, 
in  my  opinion,  how  to  restore  the  fertility  of  our 
soils;  and  as  to  the  Western  farmer,  how  he  may 
preserve  it.  If  the  reasons  already  given  here  have 
nothing  in  them  of  sufficient  importance  to  induce 
the  farmer  to  adopt  the  soiling  system,  the  fact  that 
it  affords  the  surest  and  most  economical  way  of  in- 
creasing the  fertility  of  his  soil  should  lead  him  to 
give  the  system  a  fair  and  thorough  trial.  And, 
again,  to  the  farmer  who  wishes  to  add  more  acres 
to  those  he  already  owns,  the  soiling  system  affords 
a  certain  means  of  doing  so  without  buying  more 
land.  In  my  own  experience,  as  already  shown, 
soiling  has  nearly  doubled  the  acreage  of  my  culti- 


70  Soiling. 

vated  land ;  it  has  increased  the  quantity  of  manure 
three  times,  and  the  quality  of  the  same  to  five  or  six 
times  the  amount  produced  by  the  hay  and  pasture 
system.  I  find,  in  looking  about,  that  thirty-six  head 
of  full  grown  stock  and  seventy  acres  of  marketable 
crops  (by  soiling  and  ensilage)  were  about  as  much 
as  under  the  hay  and  pasture  system  was  produced 
from  an  average  farm  of  five  hundred  acres.  My 
farm  is  by  no  means  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation 
(about  thirty  to  thirty-five  bushels  of  wheat  per 
acre).  The  system  has  done  no  more  for  me  than 
it  may  do  for  any  farmer  who  will  conform  to  its  re- 
quirements, which  are  simple  but  exacting. 

From  fifteen  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,  and  other 
crops  in  proportion,  the  old  farm  at  Maple  Lane  had 
in  eight  years  quite  doubled  that,  having  taken  thirty 
and  one-fourth  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  from  the 
same  field  that  the  first  year  produced  only  fifteen. 

THE  INCREASED  ACREAGE. 

In  older  countries  the  farmers  have  been  obliged 
to  increase  the  yield  of  their  present  possessions  by 
doubling  and  trebling  the  acreage  of  their  farms. 
As  in  crowded  cities  they  add  to  the  capacity  of 
their  factories  and  houses  by  building  up  story 
above  story,  so  the  farmers  of  these  older  countries 
build  up  their  soil  until  they  are  two,  three,  or  four 
stories  high.  That  is  to  say,  they  have  increased 
the  productiveness  of  their  soil,  until  one  acre  is 
made  to  produce  what  formerly  required  two,  three, 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  71 

or  four  acres.  There  is,  I  venture,  hardly  a  farmer 
east  of  the  Mississippi  who  would  not  be  glad  to 
know  how  this  may  be  accomplished.  The  secret  is 
an  open  one — by  keeping  a  large  number  of  farm 
animals,  and  this  is  the  result  of  soiling. 

In  France  and  Germany  soiling  is  the  rule,  and 
pasturing  the  exception,  and  the  number  of  their 
live  stock  has  been  greatly  increased  since  the  intro- 
duction of  the  sugar-beet  industry.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  add  that  their  soil  has  increased  corre- 
spondingly in  productiveness;  while  under  the  pas- 
ture system  productiveness  in  America  has  as  stead- 
ily declined,  until  the  average  wheat  yield  is  only 
about  thirteen  bushels  per  acre.  Let  me  show 
you  what  the  soiling  of  thirty-six  head  of  cat- 
tle did  for  me  by  way  of  increasing  the  acreage  of 
my  farm. 

You  will  remember  that  I  started  with  twelve 
head,  seven  cows  and  five  horses.  These  twelve 
head  required  sixty  acres  of  hay  and  pasture,  be- 
sides the  coarse  forage,  such  as  stalks  and  straw, 
that  grew  on  the  other  forty  acres  of  my  ioo-acre 
farm.  (I  have  gone  over  this  once  under  the  head 
of  saving  of  land.  I  wish  to  emphasize  it  now  un- 
der this  head.)  By  soiling  and  ensilage  (which  is 
simply  winter  soiling),  I  was  able  to  increase  my 
stock  from  twelve  head  to  thirty -six.  Thirty-six 
head  at  pasture  would  have  required  180  acres,  an 
increase  of  150  acres.  At  the  same  time  my  acreage 
for  marketable  crops  was  increased  from  forty  to 
seventy  acres,  or  an  increase  of  thirty  acres,  making  a 


72  Soiling. 

total  increase  of  acreage  of  180  acres,  without  buying 
a  foot  of  land ;  this,  added  to  the  original  farm,  gave 
an  equivalent  of  280  acres.  These  figures  are  start- 
ling, but  there  is  no  getting  past  them.  I  am  not  say- 
ing what  I  think  may  be  done,  but  what  actually  hap- 
pened. If  we  are  frightened  when  we  think  of  the 
extra  labor  it  will  incur  to  soil  our  cattle,  just  think  a 
moment.  Is  it  not  worth  a  little  extra  labor  to  add  to 
the  acreage  of  a  loo-acre  farm  another  180  acres  with- 
out buying  it?  Nor  is  that  all.  The  same  acres  under 
the  soiling  system  more  than  doubled  in  productive- 
ness, as  already  shown.  So  that  taking  the  old  farm 
as  I  started  with  it,  which  is  about  the  average  of  the 
farms,  I  have  practically  increased  my  acreage  from 
100  to  500.  Do  you  say  that  that  is  too  liberal? 
Just  look  about  you  to-day,  and  see  how  many  500- 
acre  farms  you  can  find  where  the  system  of  hay  for 
winter  and  pasture  for  summer  is  the  method,  and 
how  many  can  you  find  that  carry  over  thirty-six 
head  of  full-grown  stock,  and  at  the  same  time  have 
under  cultivation  for  marketable  crops  to  be  sold  off 
the  farm  over  seventy  acres?  When  you  show  me 
that  farm,  I  will  show  you  one  that  is  above  the 
average.  Here  lies  (both  soiling  and  ensilage)  the 
great  and  undeniable  advantage  over  pasturing. 
Beside  it,  all  other  points  here  mentioned  sink  into 
insignificance. 

When  ensilage  first  came  out,  our  experimental 
stations  haggled,  and  contradicted,  and  doubted, 
always  looking  to  the  comparative  value  of  hay,  or 
cornstalks,  and  ensilage,  losing  sight  entirely  of  the 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  73 

great  advantage,  i.e.,  that  by  growing  ensilage,  you 
made  one  acre  produce  what  formerly  required  five, 
six,  and  eight.  The  same  is  true  of  soiling.  It  is 
the  increased  acreage  without  buying  more  land  that 
gives  the  system  an  advantage  so  wide,  so  great,  so 
unmistakable  that  there  leaves  nothing  more  to  be 
said.  Lately  our  stations  have  taken  up  soiling. 
Most  of  them  are  looking  to  see  how  many  more 
quarts  of  milk  are  produced  by  one  system  over  the 
other.  Of  course,  it  is  always  in  favor  of  soiling, 
but  that  is  but  one  of  the  least  of  the  advantages. 
Others  talk  about  the  saving  of  fences,  better  con- 
dition of  the  cattle ;  but  the  two  great  questions  are 
the  greater  production  of  barnyard  manure,  and  the 
still  greater  advantage  that  it  enables  us  to  double, 
and  treble,  and  quadruple  our  acreage  without  buy- 
ing more  land. 

Do  you  say  that  this  is  too  good  to  be  true?  Do 
you  doubt  its  practical  application  to  farming  in 
general?  Let  me  show  you  where  a  single  colony 
of  i,  200  farmers  are  all  producing  much  better  results 
than  any  herein  reported.  I  refer  to  the  Channel 
islands,  Guernsey  and  Jersey.  The  island  of  Jersey 
is  twelve  to  fourteen  miles  long,  and  four  to  seven 
miles  wide.  It-has  a  population  of  55,000,  with  40,000 
to  50,000  visitors  annually.  The  average  size  of  the 
farms  is  eight  acres,  and  there  are  about  10,000 
acres  farmed.  On  this  amount  of  farming  land, 
there  were,  according  to  the  last  census,  11,891  head 
of  Jerseys  and  2,343  horses.  This  makes  14,234 
head  of  live-stock  that  are  being  supported  from 


74  Soiling. 

10,000  acres  of  land,  nearly  one  and  one-half  head 
for  every  acre  farmed. 

The  principal  industry  is  the  growing  of  early 
potatoes  for  the  English  markets.  On  an  eight-acre 
farm  will  usually  be  found  four  or  five  acres  of  po- 
tatoes (followed  by  a  crop  of  roots  the  same  season), 
two  acres  of  grass,  and  one  of  hay,  oats,  and  a  patch 
of  tree  cabbage  as  a  soiling  crop  for  the  pigs.  Such 
a  farm  will  carry  two  to  three  horses,  and  seven  to 
ten  head  of  cattle,  besides  pigs  and  poultry. 

All  the  cattle  are  soiled  the  year  around  except 
the  cows  in  milk,  which  are  tethered,  that  is  to  say, 
they  are  fastened  by  a  rope  or  chain  to  an  iron  peg 
driven  in  the  ground.  The  tether  is  ten  or  twelve 
feet  in  length.  They  begin  at  one  end  of  a  field,  and 
when  they  have  mowed  a  swath  clean  the  length  of 
their  tether,  they  are  moved  on,  and  so  along  across 
the  field.  By  the  time  the  field  has  been  fed  over 
in  this  manner,  it  is  ready  to  start  again  at  the  be- 
ginning. A  field  is  fed  over  five  or  six  times  dur- 
ing a  season.  Of  course,  the  land  is  very  produc- 
tive. Three  hundred  bushels  of  early  partly  grown 
potatoes  per  acre  is  about  the  usual  yield.  This 
little  island,  besides  principally  supporting  this  very 
large  population,  exports  annually  of  farm  products 
between  $3,000,000  and  $4,000,000.  This  10,000 
acres  is  only  a  good-sized  Western  farm.  This 
leads  me  to  say  that  the  Jersey  farmers  are  the  best 
and  most  scientific  agriculturists  in  the  world. 
They  pay  from  $40  to  $75  an  acre  annual  rent  for 
their  farms,  and  make  a  better  living  off  of  an  eight- 


Advantages  of  Soiling.  75 

acre  farm,  as  a  rule,  than  any  farmers  I  know  of  in 
America  do  on  100  acres.  This  shows  what  can  be 
done  on  a  fertile  soil.  This  enormous  production 
is  principally  owing  to  the  great  number  of  farm 
stock  which  is  made  possible  by  the  soiling  system. 


CHAPTER  Vi 
PARTIAL  SOILING. 

MY  experience  in  partial  soiling  is  not  particularly 
satisfactory  as  compared  with  a  strict  soiling  sys- 
tem. It  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  and  is  just 
that  much  better  than  pasturing.  But,  as  said  be- 
fore,  you  get  all  the  discomforts  of  the  system,  and 
only  a  small  share  of  the  benefits.  If  you  should 
see  a  man  cut  his  hay  or  ensilage,  and  bring  it  to 
the  barn  and  dump  it  on  the  ground,  you  would  say, 
"  Why  do  you  not  stack  it  properly?  See  what  a 
great  waste  and  inconvenience.  Why  do  you  not 
run  your  ensilage  fodder  through  a  cutter  and  put 
it  in  the  silo,  and  do  the  work  properly?  Half  do- 
ing a  thing  is  never  more  than  starting."  Well, 
that  is  how  it  always  looks  to  me  to  see  a  man  try- 
ing partial  soiling.  Take  my  advice  and  go  the 
whole  figure.  Do  it  right,  as  you  would  do  anything 
else,  and  you  will,  at  least,  know  whether  the  system 
is  good  or  bad.  You  simply  do  not  know  how  good 
it  is,  because  you  never  tried.  You  can  never  learn 
to  skate  by  simply  sliding  on  the  ice,  or  to  swim  by 
taking  a  foot  bath. 

It  is  something  of  an  effort  to  begin.  You: 
neighbors  will  probably  laugh  at  you  and  call  you  a 
book  farmer  and  that  sort,  but  when  you  make  a  100 


Partial  Soiling.  77 

acre  farm  produce  what  generally  requires  400  or 
500  acres,  you  can  satisfy  yourself  with  the  old  say- 
ing, "  He  laughs  best  who  laughs  last." 

I  do  not  mean  to  advise  you  to  go  into  the  system 
with  a  rush.  Go  into  it  gradually.  There  are  little 
things  that  will  come  up  the  first  year  or  two  that 
may  discourage  you,  something  you  did  not  think 
of.  1  shall  try  to  give  you  my  experience  and  prac- 
tice, and  if  you  keep  near  the  line,  I  am  sure  you 
will  succeed.  But  when  you  do  try,  put  your  cattle 
in  the  barn  and  feed  them  there.  Put  them  in  day- 
times and  turn  them  into  a  small  pasture  or  enclosure 
nights ;  and  whatever  you  do,  do  not  begrudge  a  lit- 
tle extra  labor.  You  cannot  get  something  for  noth- 
ing, but  you  can  get  more  from  soiling  for  the  money 
expended  than  anything  I  know  or  ever  heard  of  in 
connection  with  farming. 

OBJECTIONS  TO  PARTIAL  SOILING. 

One  master  cow  will  occupy  a  whole  rack.  After 
she  has  mussed  it  over  and  breathed  on  it  for  a  time, 
others  will  only  eat  it  when  compelled  to  from  hun- 
ger. Feeding  in  the  field  is  little  better.  The  cat- 
tle drive  and  hook  one  another  about,  and  grab  a 
mouthful  here  and  another  there,  and  eat  it  in  fear, 
when  they  should  have  it  by  themselves  in  quiet. 
They  tramp  upon  it,  foul  it,  tramp  up  the  meadow, 
destroying  the  grass  and  tramping  in  weed  seeds  to 
pester  you  for  years  to  come.  One  cow  sees  an- 
other ten  rods  away  eating  something  that  looks  like 


78  Soiling. 

a  nice  stalk  or  mouthful,  and  immediately  she  is 
seized  with  a  jealous  desire  to  have  that  same 
mouthful,  and  away  she  dives.  If  the  other  is  on 
the  watch,  and  quick  enough,  and  can  run  fast 
enough,  she  gets  out  of  the  way.  The  most  you  have 
gained  by  this  system  of  feeding  cattle  is  that  you 
have  given  them  a  good  stirring  up.  One  has  lost 
a  horn,  another  an  eye,  and  by  the  end  of  a  few 
weeks  the  weaker  ones  that  needed  the  extra  feed 
are  mostly  cripples,  or  stand  on  the  outside  and 
eat  what  the  others  refuse.  The  cow  that  gives  milk 
has  shut  down,  because  her  principal  business  now 
is  to  chase  and  fight.  Feeding  a  lot  of  cows,  es- 
pecially those  with  horns,  soiling  crops  in  a  yard  or 
field  might  do  very  well  if  they  were  being  trained 
for  a  football  match,  but  you  will  find  that  they 
will  do  better  with  half  the  amount  fed  to  them 
quietly,  each  in  her  own  stall.  Again,  by  partial 
soiling,  you  miss  another  great  benefit,  protection 
from  flies,  those  little  pests  that  drive  the  cattle 
to  distraction;  instead  of  filling  themselves  up  to 
their  fullest  capacity  so  that  they  can  give  you  a 
brimming  pail  of  milk  as  a  reward,  they  stand  in 
a  pool  of  water  between  a  couple  of  bushes  or  under 
a  thicket,  fighting,  fighting  all  day,  except  when 
sheer  hunger  drives  them  out  to  seek  a  few  mouth- 
fuls,  and  when  they  do  go  out  to  feed,  it  is  for 
themselves  and  not  for  you.  They  must  do  it  to 
get  a  bit  of  fuel  to  heat  their  blood  and  supply  a 
new  draught  for  the  hordes  of  flies  that  will  tap  and 
rob  them  of  it  to-morrow. 


Partial  Soiling.  79 

All  partial  soiling  can  do  is  to  patch  out  a  poor 
pasture.  You  have  not  done  away  with  any  of  the 
annoyance  or  disadvantage,  and  the  questions  of  the 
saving  of  land,  and  manure,  and  fences,  comfort  of 
stock,  greater  production  of  milk  and  butter,  are  not 
answered. 

All  these  objections  are  easily  overcome  by  simply 
feeding  the  cows  in  their  stables.  The  extra  labor 
of  cleaning  the  stables  is  compensated,  it  is  safe  to 
say,  several  times  over  in  the  question  of  manure 
alone.  Put  them  in  the  barn  daytimes  and  turn 
them  out  nights  (after  milking  them),  and  milk  them 
in  their  stalls  in  the  morning,  thus  avoiding  all  run- 
ning and  chasing,  and  clubbing  them  with  milk- 
stools,  to  say  nothing  about  the  greater  comfort  to 
the  milkers,  especially  in  fly  time. 

By  partial  soiling,  as  was  said  at  the  beginning, 
you  have  all  the  loss  and  inconvenience  of  pasturing 
with  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  benefits;  while 
the  greatest  and  most  important  lesson  to  be  had 
from  a  strict  soiling  system,  i.e.,  greater  production 
of  barnyard  manure,  is  lost  sight  of. 

Let  me  admonish  my  readers  who  have  hitherto 
practised  partial  soiling  to  take  just  one  more  step 
in  advance,  and  you  have  my  word  for  it  that  in 
that  one  step  you  will  go  from  darkness  to  light, 
from  patching  an  old  garment  to  a  new,  up-to-date, 
tailor-made  suit  which  is  yours  almost  for  the  ask- 
ing. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
OBJECTIONS  TO  SOILING. 

EXTRA   LABOR. 

THE  only  objection  to  soiling  that  any  one  can 
possibly  make  is  the  question  of  extra  labor.  In 
the  first  edition  of  this  work  was  noticed  one  other 
objection  which  was  sometimes  made,  i.e.,  lack  of 
exercise.  In  those  days  there  was  not  one  farmer 
in  ten  that  stabled  his  cows  winters,  to  say  nothing 
of  summers.  This  may  seem  strange  to  my 
younger  readers,  but  with,  the  exception  of  a  few 
dairymen,  who  furnished  milk  to  town,  I  believe  I 
had  about  the  first  farm  barn  in  the  county  fitted 
with  cow  stables.  This  was  early  in  the  seventies. 
The  objection  was  that  the  cattle  needed  more  exer- 
cise. In  those  days,  cattle  were  fed  in  open  racks 
under  open  sheds,  and  under  the  shelter  of  straw 
stacks. 

But  since  that  time,  there  have  been  great  changes 
in  the  methods  of  stabling,  until  now  not  one  farmer 
in  ten  can  be  found  who  does  not  stable  his  cows  in 
winter.  Therefore,  mention  of  this  objection,  i.e., 
lack  of  exercise,  has  been  omitted  entirely  in  this  re- 
vised edition.  The  cattle  are  turned  out  nights,  and 


Objections  to  Soiling.  81 

stabled  daytimes,  so  that  no  one  will  be  found  now 
to  object  to  soiling  on  this  ground. 

The  question  of  extra  labor,  however,  cannot  be 
disposed  of  as  easily.  But  even  that  has  become 
very  much  simplified  and  cheapened.  It  never  was 
in  the  first  place  half  as  much  of  an  objection  as  it 
appears  to  be.  This  question  of  extra  labor  is  a 
bugbear.  First,  let  me  ask  you  who  are  not  soiling 
your  cows  because  of  the  extra  labor,  to  mention 
any  branch  of  farm  economy  worth  having  but  that 
does  require  extra  labor,  which  generally  increases 
in  proportion  to  the  benefits  derived.  The  only  ex- 
ception known  of  to  that  rule  is  soiling.  There  is, 
to  repeat,  not  another  thing  in  practice,  or  that  is 
known,  or  can  be  mentioned,  where  the  returns  are 
so  great  as  the  returns  for  the  extra  labor  invested 
in  soiling.  The  great  trouble  is  that  we  do  not  see 
beyond  the  mere  question  of  getting  something  into 
our  cows'  stomachs,  and  if  they  will  get  it  there 
themselves,  what  is  the  use  of  our  troubling? 
That's  the  principle.  That  is  the  way  we  invari- 
ably have  of  looking  on  the  subject.  We  plant  corn 
because  it  won't  plant  itself.  There  seems  always 
enough  of  that  sort  of  work  we  must  do  without 
cutting  grass  and  hay  for  cattle,  and  carrying  it  to 
the  barn  for  them,  and  then  putting  it  before  them 
in  their  racks  several  times  a  day,  and  cleaning  out 
the  stables  after  them,  and  darkening  the  stables  so 
that  the  flies  won't  bite  them.  That  is  the  way  we 
approach  the  subject.  It  looks  like  the  mistress  of 
the  house  preparing  a  dinner  of  quail  on  toast  for 
6 


82  Soiling. 

the  hired  girl  in  the  parlor.  How  many  times  are 
farmers  heard  to  say :  "  Oh,  my  cows  are  quite  as  able 
to  help  themselves  as  I  am  to  help  them.  If  the 
best  pasture  I  can  give  them  is  not  good  enough, 
they  can  go  without. "  That  is  the  way  we  generally 
go  about  solving  the  soiling  question,  and  many  of 
us  never  get  beyond  that  point.  The  extra  labor  of 
soiling  over  pasturing  is  greatly  magnified.  Thirty- 
six  head  of  cattle  may  be  soiled  at  an  additional  cost 
for  extra  labor  of  $i  per  day,  3  cents  per  head.  My 
own  experience  in  soiling  twelve  head  of  milch 
cows  is  that  all  the  extra  labor  aside  from  growing 
the  soiling  crop  did  not  require  more  than  three 
hours  a  day  extra  labor,  and  the  work  was  accom- 
plished by  a  boy  fifteen  years  old.  I  cannot  give 
exact  cost  of  growing  the  crop,  etc.,  as  no  minute 
was  made  of  it  at  the  time,  but  I  feel  perfectly  safe 
in  the  above  estimate.  Let  us  see  in  what  this  extra 
labor  consists :  plowing  the  land,  seed,  and  time  to 
put  it  in,  cutting  and  delivering  the  same  to  the 
barn  and  to  the  cows,  and  cleaning  the  stalls.  As 
you  will  see  further  on  in  a  detailed  account  of  how 
this  is  accomplished,  the  extra  labor  to  soil  cattle 
over  pasturing  is  very  insignificant  in  comparison  to 
the  benefits. 

"Soiling,"  says  Mr.  H.  Stewart,  "is  a  little  more 
laborious  than  pasturing,  but  $i  spent  in  extra  labor 
is  replaced  ten  times  over  in  saving  of  land,  saving 
of  feed,  and  saving  of  manure.  I  have  found  labor 
very  much  cheaper  than  feed."  Again  he  says: 
"Besides  fifteen  cows,  there  were  three  horses, 


Objections  to  Soiling.  83 

-  seven  heifers,  one  bull  (twenty-six  head),  and  some 
pigs.  All  the  cleaning,  feeding,  and  attendance  on 
these  animals  was  done  by  a  boy  of  fourteen  years 
for  one  year,  and  the  boy  had  considerable  time  to 
spend  in  field  work.  The  extra  labor  involved  is 
well  repaid  by  the  extra  manure  made,  and  the  gain 
from  the  cattle  and  the  increased  fertility  of  the 
soil  will  be  clear  profit.  The  bugbear  of  labor  is  a 
phantom.  It  is  imaginary.  The  need  is  more  for 
head  work  than  for  hand  work." 

Another  writer  in  "  The  Country  Gentleman,"  who 
has  had  many  years'  experience  in  soiling,  says,  "  It 
requires  one  man  to  spend  half  of  his  time  cutting, 
hauling  to  the  barn,  and  feeding  forty-eight  cows, 
at  $i  per  day  "  (a  trifle  over  i  cent  per  cow). 

I  never  could  see  why  a  farmer  should  object  to 
extra  labor,  when  there  is  found  a  profit  in  it.  It  is 
rarely  that  a  man  accumulates  wealth  from  the  labor 
of  his  own  hands.  The  carpenter,  blacksmith,  shoe- 
maker, or  other  mechanic  who  ever  becomes  well-to- 
do,  usually  owes  his  prosperity  to  the  labor  of  other 
men's  hands.  There  is  a  great  amount  of  work 
to  be  performed  upon  a  farm  that  would  pay  a 
handsome  profit,  but,  as  it  does  not  always  return 
to  the  farmer  directly  in  cash,  he  is  inclined  to  apply 
himself  to  such  work  only  as  puts  the  "almighty 
dollar"  directly  in  his  pocket.  This,  I  think,  is 
another  reason  why  the  soiling  system  is  not  more 
generally  practised.  Many  do  not  like  to  see  a  crop 
of  green  rye,  oats,  or  peas  cut  down  and  fed  to 
stock,  when,  by  waiting  a  few  weeks  longer,  they 


84  Soiling. 

could  harvest  it,  and  deliver  the  grain  to  market 
for  cash.  It  has  often  been  remarked  by  visitors 
at  my  place,  who  have  witnessed  the  cutting  of  a 
splendid  crop  of  oats  or  rye  just  as  it  was  head- 
ing out,  "  What  a  pity !  "  It  is  a  greater  pity,  in  my 
estimation,  to  see  a  man  so  short-sighted  as  to  be- 
come "  penny  wise  and  pound  foolish. "  Such  men  try 
to  see  how  little  they  can  feed  and  keep  their  stock 
alive.  They  go  on  year  after  year,  plowing  wheat 
after  wheat,  yearly  reducing  their  stock  and  the  fer- 
tility of  their  soil,  and  grumbling  because  "  farming 
don't  pay."  Let  us  see  what  the  expenditure  of  $i 
per  day  for  extra  labor  accomplished  in  my  case. 
My  farm  contained  only  100  acres  of  tillable  land  and 
pasture.  By  the  hay  and  pasturing  system,  as  be- 
fore mentioned,  I  was  able  to  keep  only  twelve  head 
of  stock  a  year  on  sixty  acres.  By  soiling  summer 
and  winter,  I  was  able  to  keep  thirty-six  head  of  full- 
grown  stock  from  the  product  of  thirty  acres.  Who 
is  there  who  cannot  afford  $i  per  day  in  extra  labor 
to  produce  such  results  as  these? 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
SOILING  VERSUS  PASTURING. 

Perms.  Bui.  No.  21,  page  105  (1889). 

"  IN  instituting  a  comparison  between  the  yields  of 
pasturing  and  soiling,  it  is  necessary  to  take  ac- 
count of  the  fact  that,  by  our  system,  two  crops  of 
soiling  are  grown  on  the  same  ground  in  the  same 
season.  These  may  be  either  rye  and  corn  or  clover 
and  corn.  In  computing  the  yield  of  corn  and  add- 
ing the  yield  of  rye,  and  in  the  other  that  of  the 
clover,  and,  finally,  averaging  these  sums,  the  result 
is  as  follows: 

Digestible  Digestible 

Organic  Matter.  Albuminoids. 

Pasture 1,125  249  pounds. 

Soiling,  rye  and  corn 5,776  328      " 

Soiling,  clover  and  corn 5,9*4  374      " 

"  The  average  yield  of  edible,  digestible  matter  by 
soiling  crops  is  5.2  times  as  great  as  that  by  pastur- 
ing. We  may  say  that,  in  round  numbers,  we  can 
produce  from  three  to  five  times  as  much  digest- 
ible food  per  acre  by  means  of  soiling  crops  as  is 
produced  by  pasturing  represented  by  our  small 
plots. " 


86  Soiling. 


GREATER  PRODUCTION  OF  MILK. 
Iowa  Ex.  Bui.,  No.  15,  page  274  (1891). 

"The  losses  that  occur  annually  to  our  farmers 
from  the  drying-  up  of  their  pastures  in  July,  Au- 
gust, and  September,  induced  us  to  grow  a  few  acres 
of  green  feed,  and  ascertain  to  what  extent  such 
feed  of  different  kinds  can  be  had  from  an  acre  of 
land,  how  much  a  cow  requires  of  each  kind,  and 
the  effects  of  such  feeding  on  quantity  and  quality 
of  milk  compared  with  well-watered  and  well-shaded 
blue-grass  pasture.  The  principal  objection  to  soil- 
ing has  been  that  time  is  too  expensive  to  be  em- 
ployed for  this  purpose.  Time  and  circumstances 
are  breaking  the  force  of  this  argument.  Iowa 
lands  have  become  high-priced.  Many  of  them  are 
stacked  with  herds  of  valuable  animals  that  must 
respond,  or  they  will  not  pay.  Growth,  meats,  and 
milk  are  made  cheapest  in  summer.  Droughts  of 
July  and  August  call  for  something  to  round  out  the 
season's  work.  These  considerations  induced  the 
station  to  begin  experiments  in  this  direction.  Be- 
gan June  2oth,  when  the  drought  was  drying  up  the 
pastures.  We  sowed  for  soiling  crops  winter  rye, 
clover,  oats,  and  peas. 

"  Oats  and  peas  were  fed  from  June  zoth  to  July 
28th,  when  oats  and  second  cut  clover  were  substi- 
tuted until  August  8th,  when  green  corn  and  clover 
were  fed  to  the  end.  Six  cows  were  selected;  all 


Soiling  versus  Pasturing. 


received  the  same  ration.  Three  of  the  cows,  Nos. 
21,  22,  and  23,  were  tied  up  in  a  darkened,  ventilated 
barn  and  let  out  each  day  for  water  and  exercise. 
On  August  pth,  they  were  turned  out  and  the  other 
three,  Nos.  209,  220,  and  244,  were  tied  up.  They 
were  fed  eighty  pounds  daily  of  forage  crops  except 
Nos.  220  and  244,  that  had  one  hundred  pounds  each, 
being  larger  cows.  The  milk  was  weighed  each  milk- 
ing and  analyzed  by  the  chemist  periodically. 


Milk. 

Fat, 
Pounds. 

Solids, 
Pounds. 

Cow  No.  21  in  stable  48  days  

133.700 
104.800 
28.900 
127.250 

47-199 
39-785 

7-4I4 

43-685 
40.560 

3-"5 
45-632 
4I-I37 
4-495 

162.671 
t34-053 
286.18 

156.088 
I46.895 

9-193 
1  60  897 
137.835 
23.092 

Cow  No.  22  in  stable  48  days  

117-05° 

10.200 

I33-825 
III.075 
22.750 

Total  gain  

6I.550 

i5-°34 

142.903 

SUMMARY. 

"  The  cows  first  tied  up  increased  in  milk  while  in 
the  stables,  and  lost  very  fast  as  soon  as  they  were 
put  in  the  pasture.  Cows  tied  lost  heavily  on  pas- 
ture, and  gained  in  milk  as  soon  as  they  were  put 
on  green  feed.  We  were  feeding  indoors  against 
one  of  the  best  blue-grass  pastures  in  the  State,  well 
shaded  and  running  water  accessible.  Of  the  three 
cows  put  in  pasture  first,  June  2oth,  when  it  was  at 
its  best,  Nos.  229  and  220  were  fresh  cows  and  244  was 


88  Soiling. 

more  than  an  average  cow.  With  the  grain  ration 
given  them,  they  had  greatly  shrunken  on  the  pasture 
by  August  8th,  while  the  three  tied  up  for  the  same 
period  gained  considerably.  The  indications  from 
the  experiment  are:  that  the  average  cow  will  eat 
seventy-five  pounds  of  green  food  a  day  kept  in  the 
stable,  with  a  grain  ration  added;  that  cows  fed  on 
oats,  peas,  clover,  and  corn,  fed  green  in  the  stable  in 
midsummer,  will  give  more  milk  than  when  feeding 
on  a  good  blue-grass  pasture;  that  a  cow  fed  on 
green  feed  in  stable  darkened  and  well  ventilated 
will  gain  in  weight  more  than  she  will  in  a  well- 
shaded  pasture;  that  a  cow  will  respond  more 
readily  to  a  well-balanced  ration  of  grain  while  eat- 
ing green  feed,  than  she  does  on  dry  feed.  An  acre 
of  oats  and  peas  cut  green  weighed  twenty-four 
tons,  and  an  acre  of  corn  and  oats  cut  green 
weighed  thirty-three  tons.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
cut  green  feed  oftener  than  twice  a  week,  if  it  is 
spread  to  avoid  heating." 


CHAPTER   IX. 
ROTATION  OF  SOILING  CROPS. 

LAYING  OUT  THE  WORK. 

IN  laying  out  the  work  it  is  simply  necessary  to 
know  how  many  head  of  animals  we  wish  to  soil. 
If  some  are  calves  or  yearlings,  estimate  about  1,000 
Ib.  live  weight  as  equal  to  a  full-grown  animal.  For 
the  sake  of  illustration,  let  us  suppose  that  we  wish, 
the  coming  season,  to  soil  ten  cows,  three  two-year- 
olds,  four  yearlings,  seventeen  head,  equal  to  four- 
teen head  of  full-grown  stock  weighing  1,000  Ib.  each. 
The  first  thing  we  wish  to  know  is  how  much  land  we 
will  require  per  day,  week,  or  month  to  supply  the 
necessary  amount  of  forage.  The  following  esti- 
mate has  been  adopted  of  the  land  required  for  a  full 
grown  animal  per  day : 

Of  lucern,  clover,  three-fourths  square  rod  per 
day.  Of  barley,  oats  and  peas,  rye,  wheat,  millet, 
one-half  square  rod  per  day.  Of  corn  or  sorghum, 
one-quarter  of  a  square  rod  per  day. 

This  is  a  fair  estimate  for  a  day's  feeding  on  land 
in  a  good  state  of  cultivation.  For  a  beginner  it 
would  be  well  to  add,  say,  one-fourth  more  in  each 
case  until  he  learns  the  capacity  of  his  soil.  When 
land  is  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  it  will  require 


90  Soiling. 

less  than  the  estimates  first  above  given.  No  cow 
can  possibly  consume  half  a  square  rod  of  rye,  bar- 
ley, oats  and  peas,  or  millet  in  a  day's  feeding, 
where  there  is  a  good  strong  growth. 

I  cannot  lose  this  opportunity  to  call  your  atten- 
tion to  the  great  feeding  capacity  there  is  in  an  acre 
at  this  rate.  There  are  160  square  rods  in  an  acre. 
This,  at  one-half  square  rod  per  day,  gives  320  days' 
feeding  from  one  acre. 

It  is  always  best  to  make  a  liberal  allowance. 
There  need  be  no  waste,  since  any  surplus  may  be 
cut  and  cured  for  winter  forage,  or,  better  still, 
plowed  under  as  green  manure. 

In  laying  out  the  work  necessary  to  provide  for 
fourteen  head  of  full-grown  animals,  we  will  start 
the  fall  before  the  season  we  intend  to  begin  soiling, 
and  carry  the  work  along  for  the  year.  The  first 
question  is  to  decide  how  much  land  shall  be  allowed 
to  grow  the  necessary  amount  of  forage.  Fourteen 
head  of  cattle  (consuming,  say,  three-quarters  of  a 
square  rod  per  day)  will  require  ten  and  one -half 
rods  per  day,  or  seventy-three  and  one-half  rods  per 
week ;  say  eighty,  an  even  half  acre.  This  will  re- 
quire for  June  and  July  (eight  weeks)  four  acres  of 
ground.  Then  we  add  the  necessary  corn  ground, 
two  acres  more  for  the  August  crop ;  the  September 
and  October  crops  are  grown  on  the  land  from  which 
the  June  and  July  crops  were  taken.  For  June  we, 
therefore,  sow  during  the  autumn  this  six  acres, 
more  if  possible,  to  rye  and  wheat.  Wheat  sown  at 
the  same  time  as  rye  will  follow  rye  the  next  spring, 


Rotation  of  Soiling  Crops.          91 

as  it  is  about  a  week  later.  These  seedings  of  rye 
and  wheat  should  be  top-dressed  with  manure  dur- 
ing the  winter.  We,  of  course,  cannot  use  all  this 
rye  and  wheat  next  spring  for  soiling :  at  least,  two 
acres  of  this  will  be  plowed  under  in  the  spring,  but 
it  is  better  that  the  land  should  be  growing  some- 
thing during  winter,  as  a  mulch  and  collector  of 
nitrogen,  than  to  lay  barren  or  fallow.  Soon  as 
spring  opens,  we  plow  under  two  acres  of  the  four 
acres.  You  say,  why  not  let  it  grow?  Because  you 
will  not  require  it  all,  and  because  oats  and  peas  are 
better  soiling  crops.  But,  perhaps,  you  do  not  like 
the  idea  of  wasting  the  seed.  Don't  be  alarmed. 
That  $2  worth  of  seed  has  been  accumulating  many 
times  its  cost  in  plant  food  during  the  fall  and  win- 
ter. There  is  nothing  lost,  but  a  decided  gain. 
True,  the  rye  is  only  a  few  inches  high,  but  the 
roots  have  been  taking  up  the  plant  food  from  the 
manure  spread  upon  the  land  during  the  winter. 
Plow  it  under.  Now  we  come  to  an  important 
question.  How  much  of  this  two  acres  shall  we 
sow  to  oats  and  peas  at  a  time? 

One  week  is  about  as  long  as  any  soiling  crop 
(corn  or  sorghum  excepted)  is  at  its  best  for  soiling. 
We,  therefore,  sow  enough  every  week  to  last  a 
week.  If  we  put  in  more  than  this  at  a  time,  we 
either  have  to  begin  cutting  it  before  it  is  at  its 
best,  or  continue  to  cut  it  after  it  has  passed  its 
best.  A  soiling  crop  is  fit  when  the  grain  is  well  in 
the  milk ;  before  that  it  is  too  watery,  after  that  it 
soon  becomes  tough  and  woody.  And  right  here, 


92  Soiling. 

in  my  opinion,  has  been  a  great  drawback  to  suc- 
cessful soiling.  Men  have  planted  too  much  at  a 
time,  and  the  soiler  has  been  disappointed  in  the 
result.  His  cows  have  shrunken  in  their  yield  of 
milk,  and  no  doubt  many  a  man  has  thus  become 
disheartened  in  his  first  attempts  at  soiling. 

CROPS  FOR  JULY. 

It  has  been  my  practice  to  plow  in  the  spring,  and 
sow  first  a  week's  supply  of  barley.  Barley  will 
germinate  at  a  lower  temperature  than  oats.  Fol- 
lowing this  a  sowing  of  oats  and  peas  is  put  in 
weekly.  The  barley  and  oats  and  peas  are  for  July. 
The  wheat  and  rye  of  last  fall's  sowing  were  for  the 
later  half  of  May,  through  June,  until  the  barley  or 
first  spring  crop  is  ready. 

With  fourteen  cows  it  will  be  necessary  to  put  in 
half  an  acre  a  week,  beginning  in  the  spring  as  soon 
as  the  ground  will  permit.  Saturday  is  usually  de- 
voted to  this  weekly  task.  It  is  better  to  plow  at  one 
time  (after  the  first  week's  seeding  of  barley)  or  as 
soon  as  the  ground  is  warm  enough,  say  an  acre  and 
a  half.  Plow  deep.  This  will  make  land  enough 
for  three  weeks'  seeding  of  half  an  acre  per  week. 
Then  let  the  farm  team  devote  every  Saturday 
afternoon  to  fitting  that  half  acre,  and  sowing  the 
oats  and  peas. 

Of  barley,  sow  two  and  one-half  bushels  per  acre. 
Of  oats  and  peas,  three  bushels  per  acre,  half  and 
half,  common  Canadian  field  peas.  The  one  sowing 


Rotation  of  Soiling  Crops.  93 

of  barley  and  three  of  oats  and  peas  are  depended 
upon  to  supply  the  July  feeding.  These  four  spring 
seedings  I  have  been  able  to  get  in  (in  Western  New 
York)  during  the  month  of  April.  This  brings  us  to 
the  question  of  supplying  the 

CROPS  FOR  AUGUST. 

With  the  last  sowing  of  oats  and  peas,  whenever 
it  is  (either  a  week  earlier  or  a  week  later  than  last 
year  signifies  nothing.  Go  straight  along  with  the 
programme),  make  the  first  sowing  of  corn  Stowell's 
Evergreen  (or  some  other  medium-sized  variety), 
and  continue  with  corn  and  sorghum  during  the 
month  of  May  for  the  August  and  first  week  of  Sep- 
tember; as  corn  is  longer  in  condition  to  feed  than 
oats  and  peas,  more  can  be  sown  at  a  time.  I  have 
never  practised  it,  but  think  very  highly  of  the  idea 
of  sowing  sorghum  in  alternate  rows  or  in  the  same 
row  with  corn.  These  crops  may  be  sown  on  the 
land  from  whence  came  the  wheat  and  rye  cuttings  in 
May.  The  sorghum  or  corn  and  sorghum  should  be 
sufficient  to  last  through  the  first  half  of  September, 
or  as  long  as  it  is  safe  to  depend  upon  its  not  being 
cut  by  frost.  This  brings  us  to  and  into 

CROPS  FOR  SEPTEMBER. 

As  the  barley  and  oats  and  peas  are  consumed  in 
June,  the  ground  they  occupied  is  put  into  millet 
and  barley  for  October  (to  be  followed  by  ensilage 


94  Soiling. 

from  the  silo).  As  to  the  sowing  of  millet,  put  in 
all  the  ground  you  can  of  this,  and  plow  under  (what 
is  not  consumed  in  the  autumn  by  soiling)  for  rye 
next  spring ;  and  the  land  that  was  devoted  to  corn 
and  cut  off  in  August  is  all  put  into  rye  for  next 
spring.  This  completes  the  year. 

It  seems  as  if  a  great  many  words  had  been  used  in 
describing  this  simple  rotation.  If  I  am  at  fault  in 
this,  I  hope  the  reader  will  attribute  it  to  my  desire 
to  be  clearly  understood.  The  whole  thing  may  be 
stated  in  a  nutshell  as  follows :  In  the  fall  sow  rye 
to  plow  under  for  soiling  crops  until  barley  or  oats 
and  peas  are  ready.  In  the  spring  sow  early  as 
ground  is  fit  to  work,  four  or  five  sowings,  a  week 
apart,  of  oats  and  peas.  The  first  sowing  of  barley 
if  the  spring  is  cold  and  backward.  With  the  next 
to  the  last,  and  the  last  sowings  of  oats  and  peas, 
sow  corn  and  sorghum,  four  or  five  sowings,  to  carry 
until  middle  of  September,  to  be  followed  by  millet 
and  barley  for  late  autumn. 

Oats  and  peas  are  sowed  on  rye  plowed  under  in 
April,  corn  sown  on  rye  plowed  under  in  May,  corn 
and  sorghum  sown  on  land  soiled  from  during  June, 
millet  sown  on  land  that  rye,  oats,  and  peas  were  cut 
from  in  July,  rye  sown  on  all  corn  ground  cut  over, 
for  soiling  in  August  and  September.  October  ist, 
sow  the  balance  of  the  land  not  already  into  rye 
for  next  spring,  either  to  cut  or  plow  under  for 
soiling. 

So  far  a  rotation  has  been  shown  independently  of 
clover,  lucern,  or  crimson  clover.  These  were  pur- 


Rotation  of  Soiling  Crops.          95 

posely  omitted,  advising  the  soiler  to  work  into 
lucern  gradually,  and  as  to  crimson  clover  my  own 
experience  has  not  been  successful,  but  others  have 
been.  If  you  will  begin  with  the  rotation  given,  you 
will  soon  find  opportunities  of  branching  out  with 
the  clovers.  It  is  not  advisable  to  depend  upon 
common  red  clover ;  oats  and  peas  are  better.  By 
all  means,  however,  have  a  patch  of  lucern  for  the 
horses,  if  nothing  more.  The  following  interesting 
letter  is  from  Mr.  Charles  Wolcott,  Blue  Hill  Farm, 
Canton,  Mass.,  June  n,  1881: 

F.  S.  Peer,  Esq. 

DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  yours  of  the  4th  and  note  the  inquiries. 
Our  practice  has  been  to  feed  upon  winter  rye  first,  then  oats, 
next  spring  rye,  next  millet  (the  golden)  grown  on  the  win- 
ter rye  land.  Sweet  fodder  corn  (Sto well's  Evergreen)  grown 
on  oat  lands,  Southern  white  fodder  corn  sown  in  drills  on  oat 
land  and  spring  rye  land,  and,  lastly,  barley  grown  on  the 
land  formerly  occupied  by  winter  rye,  and  lastly  by  golden 
millet.  This  gives  a  good  rotation  for  feeding,  and  with  us 
always  has  worked  well.  Respecting  the  value  of  manure 
saved  by  soiling,  my  judgment  is  that  all  that  is  made  is 
saved,  for  I  do  not  believe  that  the  manure  dropped  in  pas- 
tures enriches  the  soil  at  all,  it  being  mostly  dried  up  into  an 
almost  insoluble  cake. 

The  care  of  my  stock  (now  forty-eight  head  of  milch  cows) 
devolves  on  one  man,  who  feeds,  cleans,  and  waters  them  in 
the  barn,  two  men  to  help  him  milk.  One  man  and  one  horse 
draw  the  green  fodder  in  less  than  half  a  day.  We  feed  three 
times  a  day  in  the  stanchions,  where  the  cows  stay  except 
when  they  are  turned  out  once  a  week  in  the  yard  if  it  is  cool, 
for  an  hour,  hut  never  if  it  is  hot.  They  much  prefer  the 
barn  to  the  yard.  Their  health  is  always  good,  and  they  are 
thriftv.  The  quality  of  milk  with  me  is  about  ,be  same  the 


96  Soiling. 


year  round.     The  quantity  is  larger  with  me  in  the  soiling 
season  than  my  neighbors  average. 

To  conclude,  I  will  say  that  I  cannot  see  that  I  can  afford 
to  pasture  my  stock,  as  I  haven't  made  enough  money  yet  to 
be  able  to  throw  it  away. 

Yours  respectfully, 

CHARLES  W.  WOLCOTT. 


CHAPTER  X. 
CUTTING  AND  GATHERING  THE  CHOPS. 

NECESSARY  TOOLS,   ETC. 

MY  own  experience  in  soiling  twelve  to  fourteen 
head  of  cattle  and  four  horses  may  be  briefly  stated 
as  follows :  The  cutting  was  done  with  a  D.  M.  Os- 
borne  self -rake  reaper  No.  3.  I  began  with  a 
scythe,  then  the  mowing  machine,  but  the  reaper 
was  the  thing,  throwing  it  off  in  gavels  in  the  best 
possible  way  to  facilitate  handling,  and  where  it  will 
wilt  without  drying  out.  Monday  morning,  for  in- 
stance, the  farm  team  is  attached  to  the  reaper,  and 
cuts  in  twenty  or  thirty  minutes  enough  feed  to  sup- 
ply the  stock  for  two  days.  This  reaper  was  used  for 
three  seasons  for  this  purpose,  also  for  cutting  the 
ensilage  corn.  Nowadays  the  self-raking  reaper  has 
generally  been  supplanted  by  the  self-binders.  I 
have  letters  from  several  binder  companies,  saying 
that  they  will  guarantee  their  machines  to  cut  the 
green  crops  for  soiling,  and  no  doubt  they  can.  It 
need  not  and  should  not  be  bound.  The  improved 
corn  cutters  leave  little  to  be  wished  for  in  the 
gathering  of  the  corn  forage  for  soiling  or  ensilage, 
and  the  work  and  expense  of  harvesting  are  with 
these  machines  reduced  to  a  minimum, 
7 


98  Soiling. 

DELIVERING  TO  BARN. 

A  one-horse  lumber  wagon,  truck,  or  half  truck 
with  wheels  two  and  one-half  to  three  inches  wide 
will  be  found  to  be  of  great  service,  and  will  answer 


BOX  FOR  WAGON. 


the  purpose  until  the  number  of  head  soiled  reaches 
twenty-five  or  more,  when  a  two-horse  wagon  with 
wide  low  trucks  (which  is  also  most  useful  in  har- 
vesting ensilage  fodder)  will  be  found  advisable. 

The  box  for  the  wagon  I  had  in  use  for  this  pur- 
pose was  a  double  one ;  the  upper  box  was  put  on  in 
four  separate  pieces  (two  end  and  two  sideboards) 
which  projected  over  the  sides  of  the  main  box  as 
shown  above. 

FEEDING. 

There  is  but  one  satisfactory  way  of  feeding  soJ- 
ing  crops,  and  that  is  to  the  cattle  fastened  in  their 
stalls.  Each  cow  gets  her  share,  with  no  running  or 
chasing  about.  She  eats  what  is  put  before  her, 


Cutting  and  Gathering  the  Crops.     99 

and  is  satisfied.  She  is  in  the  best  possible  position 
to  be  milked,  and  her  greater  comfort  has  already 
been  explained. 


CAUTION  IN   FEEDING. 

There  is  more  danger  of  feeding  too  much  at  a 
time  than  not  enough.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that 
here  lies  the  reason  of  many  discouraging  results  in 
soiling.  Of  the  three  great  mistakes  a  beginner  is 
apt  to  make,  i.e.,  feeding  soiling  crops  in  open  racks, 
sowing  too  much  at  a  time,  and  feeding  too  much  at 
a  time,  the  latter  is  probably  the  greatest  mistake  of 
the  three. 

A  cow  with  more  fodder  (especially  green  forage) 
in  her  manger  than  she  can  eat  up  clean  at  the  time, 
will  go  hungry  sooner  than  eat  it  after  she  has 
breathed  upon  it  for  a  time.  This,  of  course,  causes 
a  shrinkage  of  milk,  and  is,  I  am  sure,  the  reason 
why  the  soiling  system  has,  in  some  cases,  been 
condemned  by  some  who  suppose  their  cows  abun- 
dantly provided  for,  when  their  manger  stands  full 
of  feed.  They  cannot  understand  how  it  is  that 
their  cows  do  not  do  as  well  at  soiling  as  at  pasture, 
and  they  jump  to  the  natural  conclusion  that  the 
cow  or  cows  are  pining  for  open  pasture,  and  if  they 
turn  them  out,  they  would  undoubtedly  gain  in  milk 
for  a  day  or  so ;  then  they  would  say  that  their  cat- 
tle do  better  at  pasture  than  at  soiling.  The  trouble 
has  been  that  their  cattle  have  been  hungry  in  the 
midst  of  plenty.  After  a  cow  breathes  on  forage 


ioo  Soiling. 

left  in  a  manger  for  a  time,  it  becomes  very  distaste- 
ful to  her,  while  to  the  feeder  it  looks  bright  and 
fresh,  and  she  gets  no  more,  perhaps,  until  hunger 
compels  her  to  eat  that  up. 

Whatever  you  do,  always  remove  from  before  the 
cows  all  that  is  left  in  the  mangers  before  giving 
them  a  fresh  feed.  You  will  be  surprised  some  time 
to  see  a  cow  go  greedily  at  a  fresh  feeding  at  noon, 
when  you  have  taken  from  her  manger  what  she 
failed  to  eat  in  the  morning. 

If  there  is  anything  left  in  the  manger,  pass  it 
over  to  the  hogs.  They  will  be  very  pleased  to 
have  it. 

MANNER  OF  FEEDING. 

Experience  has  taught  me  that,  to  produce  the 
best  results  from  milch  cows,  they  should  be  fed 
four  or  five  times  a  day.  Five  feedings  in  my  ex- 
perience have  given  better  results  than  four,  and  just 
as  good  as  six. 

To  think  of  feeding  cows  five  times  a  day,  when 
the  usual  custom  is  to  feed  but  twice,  may  seem  like 
a  great  task,  but  by  systematizing  the  work  it  will 
be  found  not  nearly  as  difficult  as  one  may  imagine. 

Let  us  follow  a  day's  work  in  feeding  fourteen 
head  of  cattle  five  times  a  day,  i.e.,  at  5  and  8  A.M. 
noon,  and  at  4  and  7  P.M.  Enough  feed  has  been 
delivered  to  the  barn  the  evening  before  for  the  first 
morning  feeding,  which  the  cows  find  in  their  man- 
gers when  they  are  let  into  the  barn  from  the  yard, 
or  paddock,  or  orchard  where  they  have  spent  the 


Cutting  and  Gathering  the  Crops.     101 

night.  After  breakfast  the  farm  team  is  attached  to 
the  reaper,  and  in  twenty  minutes  or  half  an  hour 
has  cut  enough  forage  to  last  two  days,  and  has  gone 
on  to  its  regular  farm  work.  I  found  a  boy  fifteen 
or  sixteen  years  old  quite  able  to  do  the  extra  work 
of  drawing,  feeding,  cleaning  stables,  etc. ,  and  have 
about  six  or  eight  hours  a  day  to  devote  to  the  regu- 
lar farm  work.  After  breakfast  the  boy  feeds  calves, 
pigs,  etc.,  and  at  7:30  with  the  one-horse  wagon 
goes  to  the  field  and  draws  to  the  barn  the  8  o'clock 
feeding,  which  he  delivers  into  the  mangers  from 
the  wagon,  and  leaves  upon  the  wagon  enough  for- 
age for  the  noon  feeding.  The  boy  is  now  at  liberty 
to  work  elsewhere  on  the  farm  or  in  the  dairy.  At 
noon  the  forage  that  was  left  on  the  wagon  is  given 
to  the  cows,  a  work  of  10  or  15  minutes.  Other  em- 
ployment is  found  for  the  boy  until  3 :3o,  when  he 
goes  to  the  barn,  puts  the  horse  to  the  wagon,  and 
delivers  to  the  cattle  their  4  o'clock  feeding.  He 
then  draws  in  enough  forage  for  the  7  o'clock  feed- 
ing, and  the  first  (5  o'clock)  feeding  for  the  follow- 
ing morning.  He  then  cleans  the  stables,  assists 
in  milking,  and  at  7  o'clock  gives  the  final  or  fifth 
feeding  to  the  cattle,  which  is  quickly  done.  This 
ends  the  day,  with  the  exception  of  turning  the  cat- 
tle out  at  8  o'clock  for  the  night.  They  have  free 
access  to  water  in  the  yard  when  let  out  for  the 
night.  They  require  no  more  water  during  the  day. 
In  thus  relating  my  own  method  and  practice  in 
providing  for  fourteen  head  of  dairy  cows,  I  am  well 
aware  that  it  might  not  be  suited  in  every  respect  to 


IO2  Soiling. 

every  other  man's  case.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that 
it  will  give  my  readers  a  correct  knowledge  of  the 
general  principles  of  the  system,  so  that  those  who 
may  wish  to  adopt  it  will  have  a  guide,  if  not  an 
absolute  rule.  The  things  insisted  upon  as  abso- 
lutely essential  to  success  may  be  summed  up  as 
follows : 

First.— Feeding  the  cattle  in  their  stalls  day-times, 
turning  them  out  at  night. 

Second. — Sow  every  week  during  April,  May,  and 
June  enough  ground  to  supply  a  week's  feeding  only. 

Third. — Remove  all  forage  left  in  the  mangers 
before  each  fresh  feeding. 

Fourth. — Feed  five  times  a  day  all  the  cattle  will 
eat. 

Fifth. — Supply  perfect  ventilation.  Open  stable 
doors  at  night.  Keep  doors  and  windows  closed 
day-times,  the  latter  darkened  to  exclude  the  flies. 
(But  this  can  only  be  done  when  the  barn  is  proper- 
ly ventilated.) 

These  five  rules  are  laid  down  as  the  cardinal  prin- 
ciples. As  to  all  the  rest,  use  my  experience  as  a 
guide,  and  better  it  wherever  you  can.  Anyway, 
adopt  any  method  that  will  best  serve  the  five  rules. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

BARN   CONSTRUCTION. 
GENERAL  PLAN. 

THE  principal  requisite  in  the  construction  of  barns 
for  soiling  summers  and  feeding  ensilage  winters  is 
to  have  a  driveway  through  the  barn,  so  that  the 
soiling  crops  and  the  ensilage  may  be  fed  to  the 
stock  directly  from  the  wagon  into  their  mangers. 
If  the  barn  is  wide  enough  so  that  the  cattle  can 
stand  with  their  heads  toward  the  centre,  and  still 
leave  room  for  a  passage  behind  them,  so  much  the 
better;  but  if  the  cows  face  the  walls  with  only  a 
manger  in  front,  the  cattle  may  still  be  fed  quite 
handily  from  a  passage  behind  them,  while  the  pas- 
sage may  be  used  in  carting  out  the  manure,  which 
may  be  delivered  direct  from  the  stables  to  the  field  in 
one  handling.  This  plan  is  preferable,  unless,  when 
the  cows  face  the  centre,  there  is  still  room  behind 
them  for  a  wagon  drive  for  the  manure.  The  ob- 
ject, of  course,  is  the  saving  of  labor.  A  barn 
thirty-five  feet  wide  will  accommodate  two  rows  of 
cows  facing  the  walls,  and  give  a  ten-foot  drive  be- 
hind, and  a  four-foot  passage  in  front  of  them, 
whereas,  if  they  face  the  centre,  and  there  is  a  drive 


IO4  Barn   Construction. 

behind  them  for  manure  and  one  in  front  for  soiling 
crops,  the  barn  will  require  to  be  at  least  fifty  feet 
wide ;  although  it  is  not  quite  as  convenient  to  feed 
the  cattle  their  soiling  crops  from  behind,  especially 
if  they  are  fastened  in  stanchions,  the  great  economy 
in  building  the  barn  thirty-five  feet  wide  instead  of 
fifty  is  considerable.  With  open  mangers,  the  cat- 
tle may  be  fed  from  the  drive  behind  them  nearly  as 
well  as  from  in  front.  Therefore,  it  is  preferable  to 
have  them  face  the  wall  and  a  drive  behind  them, 
especially  if  the  number  of  cattle  is  great  enough  to 
deliver  the  manure  from  the  trench  directly  to  the 
field.  Of  course,  if  there  are  but  a  few,  and  the 
stables  are  cleaned  by  the  use  of  a  wheelbarrow, 
and  a  narrow  passage  behind,  I  would  in  this  case 
recommend  the  cattle  to  stand  facing  the  centre.  A 
barn  on  this  plan  also  should  be  at  least  thirty-five 
feet  on  the  inside.  This  will  leave  a  feeding  pas- 
sage ten  feet  wide  in  front  of  the  cows. 

The  next  thing  to  be  considered  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  barn  is  that  it  should  be  warm  in  winter 
and  cool  in  summer.  The  best  possible  construc- 
tion of  a  barn  to  attain  this  end  is  to  build  it  with 
two  air  spaces  between  the  outer  and  inside  cover- 
ings. A  barn  built  on  the  most  approved  plan  for 
keeping  ice,  or  for  cold  storage,  or  refrigerator  pur- 
poses is  best  to  accomplish  this  end,  i.  e. ,  to  keep  out 
the  cold  in  winter  or  keep  out  the  heat  in  summer. 


Barn  Construction 


105 


OBJECTIONS  TO  MASONRY  BASEMENTS. 

I  have  had  much  experience  with  stone  and  brick 
wall  basements,  and  would  on  no  account  recom- 
mend them  for  any  kind  of  stock.  They  are,  as  a 


*'    3' 


Elev&floiA  of  Bridge. 


rule,  damp,  chilly,  and  unwholesome,  if  not  un- 
healthy, a  great  portion  of  the  year.  I  am  so  prej- 
udiced against  them,  compared  with  double  air- 


io6 


Barn  Construction. 


spaced  wooden  walls,  that  I  would  not  have  one  put 
under  a  barn  of  mine  if  it  could  be  done  without 
cost.  If  it  is  necessary  to  build  a  barn  with  a  base- 


ment,  I  would  recommend  excavating  back  from 
the  foundation,  and  driving  into  the  upper  story  over 
a  bridge  six  or  eight  feet  long,  as  shown  (cut,  p.  105). 


Barn  Construction. 


107 


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Verticzxt  Section 
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Io8  Barn   Construction. 

If  the  cattle  barn  is  to  be  under  the  main  barn,  as  is 
usually  the  case,  or  simply  a  shed,  the  method  of 
constructing  walls  with  double  air  spaces  is  as  fol- 
lows: On  the  sill  twelve  inches  wide,  set  up  a  two- 
by-four  one  inch  back  from  flush  with  the  outer 
edge.  On  this  nail  sheathing,  on  the  sheathing 
building  paper,  over  the  building  paper  clapboards 
or  novelty  siding,  or  whatever  siding  is  desired  for 
the  outside  of  the  barn.  On  the  inside  of  the  two- 
by-four  studding  nail  inch  sheathing;  over  this 
building  paper;  then  set  up  another  two-by-four 
against  the  inside  or  middle  lining,  and  on  the  other 
edge  nail  sheathing,  then  building  paper,  and  cover 
with  matched  siding  (see  cuts).  The  idea  is  to  get  two 
dead-air  spaces.  The  nearer  airtight  the  spaces  are 
the  more  perfectly  the  cold  will  be  excluded  in  winter 
or  the  heat  kept  out  in  summer.  An  airtight  air 
space  is  one  of  the  best  non-conductors  of  heat  or 
cold  for  barn,  silo,  or  icehouse.  It  is  far  better  than 
to  have  the  space  filled  with  sawdust.  Where  lath 
and  plaster  is  more  economical  than  sheathing  and 
building  paper,  it  makes  an  equally  good  partition, 
dividing  the  two  air  spaces.  This  method  of  build- 
ing side  walls  is  less  expensive  than  stone  or  brick 
masonry,  and  when  finished  is  so  much  warmer  in 
winter,  so  much  cooler  in  summer,  so  much  drier, 
cleaner,  airier,  and  more  wholesome,  that  there  is  no 
comparison  between  the  two. 

The  windows  should  for  the  same  reason  be  made 
to  accommodate  three  sashes  both  for  winter  and 
summer.  The  windows,  however,  should  be  large 


Barn   Construction.  109 

and  numerous,  but  they  are  never  to  be  opened  or 
used  as  ventilators.  This  plan  is  for  the  basement. 
Above,  the  barn  may  be  built  in  the  usual  way  with 
single  siding,  unless  a  horse  stable,  calves  or  sheep 
pens  are  to  occupy  the  upper  floor,  in  which  case  their 
quarters  should  be  surrounded  with  similar  walls. 
Outside  walls  of  such  a  construction  will  require  no 
artificial  heat  in  winter  to  keep  the  stable  warm,  a 
system  that  is  both  expensive  and  needless,  and  will 
be  as  cool  as  it  is  possible  to  have  a  barn  in  summer. 
Eight  feet  in  the  clear  is  enough  if  properly  venti- 
lated. 

VENTILATION. 

The  next  great  question  is  that  of  proper  ventila- 
tion. It  has  just  been  said  that  windows  are  not  to 
be  used  summer  or  winter  for  ventilation.  It  is  un- 
necessary, and  can  be  attained  more  perfectly  in 
other  ways.  The  question  is  to  admit  fresh  air  and 
to  dispel  foul  air.  My  method  would  be  as  follows: 
The  foul  air  is  of  two  kinds,  the  warm  air  from  the 
animals'  bodies,  which  is  lighter  than  the  air  and 
ascends,  and  the  poisonous  gases,  which  are  heavier 
and  stay  on  the  floor.  We  must,  therefore,  provide 
an  exit  for  both.  The  former  is  easily  gotten  rid 
of  in  the  usual  way  by  a  ventilator  in  the  floor  of 
the  ceiling  to  a  point  above  the  ridge  by  a  wooden 
shaft  surmounted  by  a  cupola.  Taking  advantage 
of  the  fact  that  the  cooler,  fresh  air  is  heavier  than 
the  heated  air  of  the  stable,  therefore  it  best  sup- 
plies the  exit  of  the  latter,  by  coming  into  the  stable 


I  IO 


Barn  Construction. 


near  the  floor  on  which  the  animals  stand.  This  air 
either  in  winter  or  summer  for  a  small  stable  may  be 
supplied  from  the  inside  of  the  barn  at  the  floor  of  the 
room  above.  The  reason  is  that  the  temperature 
there  is  cooler  in  summer  than  if  taken  from  the  out- 
side, the  coolest  air  in  the  barn  above  being  on  the 


1 


B 


! 


floor.  It  is  equally  advantageous  in  the  winter,  be- 
cause no  matter  which  way  the  wind  is  or  how  hard  it 
blows,  the  air  from  the  room  above  is  steady  and  uni- 
form both  in  movement  and  temperature,  that  is  when 
the  barn  doors  upstairs  are  closed.  We,  therefore, 
prefer  to  get  our  fresh  supply  from  indoors  (above) 
rather  than  from  the  outside.  To  accomplish  this, 
we  may  use  wooden  air  ducts  as  shown  above,  opening 
from  the  floor  above,  and  discharging  in  front  of  the 
cattle  into  their  mangers,  or  near  their  heads  so  that 


Barn  Construction.  1 1 1 


\ 


1 


112  Barn  Construction. 

they  can  get  it  pure.  We  have  now  provided  for 
the  entrance  of  fresh  and  the  exit  of  heated  and  im- 
pure air,  but  we  should  still  provide  a  place  of  exit 
for  the  impure  air  that  is  heavier  than  the  fresh  air. 
This  is  accomplished  by  an  air  duct  opening  lower 
than  the  entrance  of  the  fresh  air,  and  must  be  car- 
ried by  a  tile  duct  or  conductor  pipes  and  allowed  to 
discharge  underneath  the  barn  or  lower  than  the 
barn  floor,  or  allowed  to  discharge  into  the  liquid 
manure  cistern,  in  which  case  a  swinging  damper 
closes  automatically  if  air  attempts  to  enter  through 
this  duct  from  the  outside.  The  cut  (page  1 1 1)  shows 
this  air  taken  from  the  gutter  behind  the  cows  and 
in  a  tile  drain  discharging  into  the  liquid  manure 
cistern.  This  same-  pipe  also  provides  an  escape 
for  the  light  foul  air  or  gases  that  may  rise  from 
the  cistern,  as  shown  in  the  cut  at  B.  This  is 
simply  a  galvanized  conductor  pipe  that  is  carried 
above  the  building  on  the  principle  of  trapping  a 
sewer  pipe  discharging  into  a  cesspool.  If  cattle 
barns  were  thoroughly  and  properly  ventilated,  there 
would  in  all  probability  be  less  tuberculosis  among 
our  herds  than  there  is  at  present.  Pure  invigorating 
air  is  the  best  of  all  preventives,  if  not  a  cure,  to  con- 
sumption in  the  human  family;  why  not  in  cattle? 
The  fresh  air  comes  into  the  barn  through  shaft 
A  7,  and  is  conducted  along  on  an  air  duct  directly  in 
front  of  the  cattle,  as  shown,  discharging  into  each 
manger  (see  page  in).  This  air  shaft  in  front  of 
the  manger  comes  into  the  stable  at  each  end  of  the 
barn  (as  shown  on  page  1 1 1  for  a  small  number  of 


Barn  Construction. 


SecHory 


Barn  Construction. 


cattle,  and  on  page  113  for  a  larger  number).  The 
forced-air  shafts  should  have  shown  the  damper  on 
the  floor  the  cattle  stand  upon,  where  it  may  also  be 


Barn  with  Automatic  Ventilators 

regulated  by  hand  by  moving  an  adjustable  weight 
in  and  out  on  the  damper  shown  in  the  floor  above. 

A  good  place  for  the  exit  of  this  carbonic-acid  gas 
out  of  the  barn  is  from  holes  along  the  side  of  the  ma- 
nure trench  behind  the  cattle,  A  A  (page  in),  as  it 
seeks  the  lowest  level.  The  same  ventilator  B  takes 
the  warm,  offensive  air  from  the  fresh  droppings  to  the 
top  of  the  building  (as  shown).  With  a  large  number 


Barn  Construction.  115 

of  cattle  it  may  be  found  desirable  to  force  air  into  the 
barn  from  the  outside.  Ventilators  regulated  by  the 
action  of  the  wind,  with  automatic  check  damper,  as 
shown  in  cuts  (pages  113,  114).  W.  E.  H.  Massey,  of 
Toronto,  has  adopted  this  method  with  great  success. 

The  first  cut  shows  an  automatic  ventilator  which 
revolves  on  ball  bearings,  and  is  kept  facing  the  wind 
on  the  principle  of  a  weather  vane,  which  keeps  the 
opening  of  the  ventilator  always  facing  the  wind, 
thus  forcing  the  fresh  air  down  the  shaft.  An  auto- 
matic damper  in  the  shaft  regulates  the  supply  so 
that  a  wind-storm  could  not  drive  in  more  air  than 
was  needed.  This  automatic  damper  can  be  regu- 
lated to  suit  any  strength  of  current,  or  closed  en- 
tirely by  hand. 

The  draft  of  an  outlet  ventilator  may  likewise  be 
greatly  increased  by  making  the  opening  always  face 
in  the  opposite  direction  to  the  wind,  as  shown. 

While  discussing  this  question  of  ventilation,  I 
may  take  this  opportunity  to  call  the  reader's  atten- 
tion to  the  reason  why  it  is  particularly  necessary 
that  dairy  cows  especially  should  be  supplied  with 
a  great  abundance  of  fresh  air  aside  from  its  health- 
giving  properties  to  all  animals.  Milk  is  a  product 
of  the  blood.  Therefore,  no  cow  can  manufacture  a 
large  quantity  of  milk  without  first  manufacturing 
a  correspondingly  large  quantity  of  blood.  The 
blood  is  made  from  the  food  the  cow  consumes,  but 
in  manufacturing  a  large  quantity  of  blood  a  large 
quantity  of  pure  air  is  required  to  enter  the  lungs  of 
the  animal  to  purify  the  same.  So  you  see  the  re- 


u6  Barn  Construction. 

quirements  of  a  good  dairy  cow  are,  first,  capacity 
for  food,  large  paunch  powerful  machinery  for  di- 
gesting and  assimilating  the  .product ;  second,  she 
requires  a  large  lung  capacity  to  purify  the  blood 
from  which  milk  is  the  product.  Then  if  she  has 
a  muscular  jaw,  heavy  muscular  lips  for  milling  the 
foods,  and  large  open  nostrils  for  supplying  a  large 
pair  of  lungs,  we  have  the  essential  machinery  of  a 
productive  dairy  cow,  and  the  necessity  of  supplying 
an  abundance  of  fresh  air  is  apparent. 

WATER. 

There  is  one  other  requirement  that  our  barn 
must  not  fail  to  have,  and  that  is  fresh  water  in 
abundance.  Water  is  the  least  expensive  of  all  the 
other  things  that  go  to  make  up  the  raw  material 
from  which  milk  is  made.  Personally.  I  object  to 
water  continually  standing  before  the  cows  in  their 
stalls.  Ensilage  and  soiling  crops  are  very  watery, 
and  cows  are  apt  to  get  into  the  habit  of  drinking 
for  want  of  something  to  do,  and  bowel  trouble  is 
the  result,  caused  by  the  washing  of  undigested  food 
past  the  third  and  fourth  stomachs,  causing  irrita- 
tion and  looseness  of  the  bowels.  Give  them  all 
they  want  to  drink  at  a  time,  and  at  least  twice  a 
day,  but  shut  it  off  and  empty  all  troughs.  The  in- 
dividual iron  troughs  are  usually  operated  by  a  float, 
and  the  troughs  stand  full  all  the  time.  There  should 
be  some  means  of  shutting  off  the  supply,  and  empty- 
ing every  trough.  I  have  seen  most  of  the  patent 


Barn  Construction.  117 

troughs,  but  none  of  them  that  I  know  of  answer 
all  the  requirements,  flushing  at  drinking  time, 
emptying,  ~ and. keepi*#  empty  after  and  between 
watering  times.  In  preference  to  these  I  must  still 
recommend  a  trough  that  I  used  for  several  years 


Hinged  W&ler Trough  8,  Overflow  . 

most  satisfactorily.  It  is  shown  above.  It  is  simply 
a  wooden  or  sheet-iron  trough  on  hinges,  or  not 
fastened  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  manger.  When 
not  in  use,  it  is  turned  upside  down;  nothing 
can  get  into  it.  It  is  thus  kept  absolutely  clean. 
When  wanted  for  use,  it  is  simply  turned  over  in 
front  of  the  cattle  and  fits  into  notches  cut  in  the 
partitions  separating  the  mangers.  Then  it  is  filled 
by  a  faucet  or  a  hose  at  one  end.  There  is  a  hollow 
plug  B  in  the  trough  that  takes  care  of  the  over- 


1 1 8  Barn  Construction. 

flow,  which  discharges  into  a  two-inch  drain  pipe. 
The  water  is  left  running  until  the  cows  are  through 
drinking.  Then  it  is  shut  off  and  the  hollow  plug  is 
removed ;  this  empties  the  trough.  This  overflow  is 
at  the  same  end  as  the  supply  faucet.  When  the 
trough  is  emptied,  it  is  turned  over  until  again  re- 
quired. One  trough  to  every  four  or  five  cows  is 
about  as  long  as  can  be  conveniently  managed. 
(The  hinges  should  be  of  galvanized  iron.)  Of 
course,  this  requires  a  little  more  labor  than  where 
each  cow  has  a  separate  trough  that  is  full  all  the 
time,  but  there  is  a  great  objection  against  that 
method  of  watering  cattle.  There  is  as  much  bene- 
fit to  be  derived  by  having  a  drink  of  pure,  fresh 
running  water  when  wanted,  as  there  is  in  having 
pure,  fresh  air  to  breathe.  It  is  not  a  mere  ques* 
tion  of  slaking  thirst  in  the  one  case,  or  the  filling 
the  lungs  with  air  in  the  other.  It  is  the  freshness 
of  both  that  stimulates. 

If  it  is  considered  advisable  to  use  individual 
water  buckets,  the  following  system  of  piping  is 
advised,  as  shown  on  page  1 19.  D  is  the  inlet  pipe 
from  spring  or  tank;  the  valve  Et  which  is  gov- 
erned by  a  float  F,  that  shuts  off  the  water  when 
the  receiving  tank  is  full.  To  water  the  cows 
close  valve  B  2  and  open  valve  A  A.  Every  in- 
dividual bucket  bb  will  thus  be  filled  to  a  level 
with  the  water  in  the  receiving  tank  //,  which  is 
automatically  shut  off  as  soon  as  all  the  buckets 
which  are  set  on  the  same  level  are  full.  When 
the  cattle  are  through  drinking,  close  valve  AA 


Barn  Construction 


I 


119 


I 


I2O  Barn  Construction. 

and  open  valve  B  2,  thus  emptying  all  the  trough 
entirely  into  a  sewer  or  the  liquid  manure  cistern, 
which,  of  course,  we  must  now  provide.  Between 
the  barn,  and  the  discharge  of  the  water  thus 
drawn  off  there  should,  of  course,  be  a  trap,  which 
trap  is  ventilated,  as  shown  on  page  in.  This 
plan  overcomes  all  the  objections  which  I  have 
mentioned  in  connection  with  individual  water- 
ing troughs.  It  supplies  pure,  fresh  water  which 
is  never  allowed  to  stand  or  become  contaminated 
by  the  impurities  of  the  air.  It  provides  for  a  sim- 
ple and  inexpensive  drainage  that  can  never  clog, 
and  does  away  with  all  floats  in  the  trough  that  get 
out  of  order.  The  troughs  are  covered  with  a 
wooden  cover  a  a,  which  I  saw  in  operation  in  Mr. 
James  Forsyth's  barn  at  Owego,  N.  Y.  When  a 
cow  wants  a  drink,  she  puts  her  nose  against  the 
cover,  raises  it,  and  helps  herself.  Mr.  Forsyth 
assures  me  that  the  cows  "catch  on,"  as  he  ex- 
pressed it,  very  quickly.  This  keeps  the  trough 
always  clean  and  free  from  dust.  The  inlet  and 
discharge  pipe  are  the  same.  The  flow  and  dis- 
charge comes  straight  from  the  main  pipe  into  the 
bottom  of  the  trough,  and  is  easily  cleaned.  A  three- 
fourths-inch  pipe  supplies  the  troughs,  while  the  main 
pipe  is  two  to  three  inches,  according  to  the  number 
of  cattle  and  length  of  the  stable. 


Barn  Construction.  121 


HANDLING  THE  MANURE. 

The  points  we  wish  to  study  are  how  to  build  a 
barn  adapted  to  soiling,  with  the  view  of  reducing 
the  cost  of  labor  to  a  minimum,  which  it  is  well  to 
do  in  the  construction  of  all  farm  buildings  where 
labor  for  any  purpose  is  employed. 

The  question  of  barn  construction  as  to  the  econ- 
omy of  handling  the  manure  is  a  problem  worthy  of 
our  attention.  The  most  economical  plan  is  to  cart 
the  manure  directly  from  the  stable  to  the  field, 
and  spread  it  broadcast  in  the  one  handling.  It  is 
not  always  convenient  to  do  this,  and  at  some  sea- 
sons of  the  year  the  land  is  not  in  condition  to  re- 
ceive it.  However,  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
year,  it  may  be  carted  directly  from  the  stable  to  the 
field  and  spread  from  the  wagon.  I  believe  that 
there  is  no  more  effective  way  of  manuring  the  land, 
and  getting  the  greatest  good  from  barnyard  manure, 
than  to  spread  it  broadcast  on  the  ground  as  fast  as 
made,  either  summer  or  winter.  I  have  demon- 
strated this  several  times.  A  manure  spreader  is  a 
most  convenient  and  labor-saving  machine,  espe- 
cially when  this  system  of  delivering  is  adopted. 

My  idea  of  a  trench  behind  the  cattle  is  to  have  it 
deep  and  narrow,  instead  of,  as  usual,  wide  and  shal- 
low. A  deep,  narrow  trench  prevents  cows  stand- 
ing in  it  with  their  hind  feet.  It  holds  two  or  three 
days'  droppings  without  soiling  the  cows  when  they 


122  Barn  Construction. 

lie  down.  If  narrow  (the  width  of  a  scoop  shovel 
and  little  more)  the  cows  can  easily  step  across  it, 
whereas,  when  it  is  only  four  or  five  inches  deep  and, 
as  usual,  eighteen  inches  wide,  they  must  step  down 
and  into  it  in  getting  to  and  from  their  stalls.  The 
most  satisfactory  drop  with  which  I  ever  had  experi- 
ence was  one  sixteen  inches  deep,  and  twelve  and 
one-half  inches  wide. 

There  are  some  iron  gratings  which  give  satisfac- 
tion, in  which  case  the  trench  is  made  to  hold  three 
or  four  days'  or  a  week's  droppings,  so  that  they  are 
only  cleaned  once  or  twice  a  week.  There  are  no 
disagreeable  odors  coming  from  this  accumulation 
of  manure,  the  trench  being  ventilated  as  shown. 
All  the  warm,  offensive  air  is  drawn  off,  and  by  the 
use  of  a  daily  sprinkling  of  land  plaster  (see  chap- 
ter on  land  plaster,  page  25)  as  an  absorbent,  the 
stable  is  kept  as  pure  and  wholesome  as  a  well-con- 
structed closet  in  a  private  house.  Where  land 
plaster  cannot  be  obtained,  road  dust  or  dry  muck 
as  an  absorbent  is,  we  are  told,  the  next  best  thing 
to  procure.  If  it  is  desirable  to  clean  the  stables 
not  oftener  than  once  a  week,  the  manure  trench 
should  be  at  least  eighteen  inches  deep  and  eigh- 
teen inches  wide,  in  which  case,  it  will,  of  course, 
require  to  have  an  iron  grating  behind  the  cows. 
I  have  never  had  practical  experience  with  these 
iron  grates,  but,  from  what  I  have  seen,  they  could 
be  improved  upon  by  making  the  opening  between 
the  bars  wider,  and  the  bats  themselves  narrower 
and  deeper,  so  that  the  manure  in  falling  will  go 


Barn  Construction. 


123 


through.  As  usually  constructed,  the  manure,  un- 
less thin,  lodges  on  the  bars.  Cast-iron  gratings 
are  recommended,  not  to  exceed  one-half  inch  in 
thickness  by  one  inch  and  a  half  in  depth  (the  narrow 

T 

4- 

I 

i 


iron  Gr&ti 


f  Drop, 

;e"  x  IQ" 


124  Barn  Construction. 

edge  up)  the  upper  edge  rounding,  and  the  bars  re- 
duced  to  one-fourth  inch  at  the  under  edge,  as  shown. 

Some  recommend  flat  one-inch  steel  bars  set  on 
edge,  the  bars  three-eighths  of  an  inch  thick,  and 
running  lengthwise  of  the  drop  instead  of  crossways, 
as  shown.  Prof.  E.  W.  Stewart,  of  Lake  View,  Erie 
County,  N.  Y.  (author  of  a  very  valuable  work  on 
feeding  animals),  first  introduced  these  "self-clean- 
ing stables."  He  (Mr.  Stewart)  recommends  grat- 
ing of  T-shaped  steel  bars,  made  in  sections  for  the 
width  of  two  or  three  cows ;  as  to  size  of  trench,  he 
says,  in  a  circular  describing  these  grates,  usually 
sixteen  to  twenty-four  inches  deep,  three  feet  wide. 
If  built  thus,  this  will  hold  droppings  of  a  large  cow 
for  about  four  weeks.  He  adds,  in  substance,  that 
stables  thus  provided  are  kept  sweet,  or  much  freer 
from  disagreeable  odors,  than  where  the  stalls  are 
cleaned  every  day.  He  also  recommends  these 
stalls  for  pig-pens.  There  is,  Mr.  Stewart  informs 
me,  no  patent  on  this  appliance.  Mr.  James 
Forsyth,  of  Owego,  has  cast-iron  grates  behind  his 
cows,  with  a  trench  large  enough  to  hold  droppings 
for  a  week,  and  I  was  never  in  a  barn  so  free  from 
the  smell  of  manure.  Mr.  Forsyth  speaks  in  very 
high  terms  of  this  system  of  handling  manure  as  a 
labor-saving  device ;  especially  when  the  manure  is 
to  be  carted  to  the  field  in  a  manure-spreader,  it  has 
very  much  to  recommend  it. 

The  trench  itself  had  better  be  either  of  brick  or 
cement,  or  cast  iron,  or,  if  built  of  wood,  should  be 
carefully  put  together  with  red-lead  joints,  or  in 


Barn  Construction. 


125 


some  way  made  water-tight.  We  can  no  longer 
afford  to  waste  the  most  valuable  half  of  barn 
manure.  This  drop  or  gutter  may  drain  into  the 
liquid-manure  cistern,  have  a  hose  turned  into  it, 
and  be  thoroughly  cleaned  after  emptying.  The 
gutter  is  easily  made  of  concrete ;  first  the  bottom  in 
the  usual  way;  the  sides  are  made  by  filling  in  a 
space  between  two  planks  set  on  edge  as  shown 
below,  well  supported  to  keep  from  springing. 

The  ditch  is  dug  two  or  three  inches  wider  than 
this  space  between  the  sides  of  the  ditch  and  the 
upright  plank  (which  plank  is  only  used  as  a  mold  to 


Jv;  - 


be  taken  away  when  the  concrete  has  set).  The 
floor  upon  which  the  cows  stand  is  also  cemented. 
This  is  a  little  more  expensive  than  plank,  but,  once 
in,  it  should  last  indefinitely.  Depressions  for  a  cast- 
iron  grating  to  fit  in  level  or  flush  with  the  plat- 
form the  cows  stand  upon  and  the  driveway  behind 
them,  should  be  provided. 


126  Barn  Construction. 

MANURE  SHED. 

Where  and  when  it  is  impracticable  to  deliver  the 
manure  directly  from  the  wagon  or  manure-spreader 
to  the  field,  it  is  quite  essential  that  some  provision 
should  be  made  either  to  compost  or  cover  it. 

A  very  inexpensive  manure  shed  on  a  grain  farm 
may  be  built  by  setting  some  large  posts  in  the 
ground  where  the  straw-stack  is  usually  built.  Saw 
the  tops  of  the  posts  off  level,  and  on  them  place 
timbers  flattened  on  both  sides,  and  on  these  timbers 
place  poles,  old  rails,  or  boards,  and  on  top  of  this 
build  the  straw  stack.  I  had  such  a  manure  shed  at 
my  Maple  Lane  farm,  and  found  it  a  great  conven- 
ience, as  it  made  also  a  splendid  place  to  turn  the 
cows  in  weather  too  bad  for  them  to  be  outside. 
Three  men  cut  the  necessary  timbers  in  my  own 
woods,  and  completed  the  work  in  three  days.  It  was 
about  one  hundred  feet  by  eighty  feet.  The  posts 
were  sixteen  to  eighteen  inches  in  diameter,  and  set 
about  three  feet  deep  in  the  ground.  It  answered 
the  purpose  beautifully,  and  I  would  never  want  to 
be  without  such  an  arrangement  on  a  grain  farm. 
Professor  Roberts,  of  the  Cornell  University,  tells 
us  that  the  waste  in  manure  in  an  open  barnyard  is 
from  forty  to  sixty  per  cent. 

If  there  is  a  stone-wall  basement  under  your  barn, 
it  can  be  utilized  to  good  advantage  as  a  manure- 
shed,  for  that  is  really,  in  my  judgment,  the  best 
use  for  a  basement  of  this  kind.  The  principal  ex- 
pense for  such  a  shed  is  the  roof.  I  have  had  con- 


Barn  Construction.  127 

siderable  experience  in  the  different  kinds  of  roof- 
ing1, and  the  best  and  cheapest  I  know  of  is  to  build 
them  of  boards  grooved  and  battened,  the  battens 
also  grooved,  as  shown  in  the  illustration. 


r-y 


"Koof 

At  Squawkie  Hill,  my  present  farm,  I  have  forty- 
two  box  stalls  for  brood  mares  and  colts,  and  a  cov- 
ered enclosure,  22  by  120  feet,  that  was  roofed  in 
this  way  in  1885,  and  is  to-day  (1900)  in  first-class 
condition,  and  decidedly  better  than  most  of  the 
shingle  roofs  put  on  other  buildings  at  the  same  time. 
It  has  had  but  two  coats  of  iron  ore  paint  during 
the  time,  looks  well,  and  answers  the  purpose  beauti- 
fully. 

LIQUID  MANURE. 

On  the  islands  of  Jersey  and  Guernsey,  where  the 
science  of  agriculture  is  better  understood  than  any- 
where in  the  world,  the  farmer,  whatever  else  he 
possesses,  is  sure  to  have  a  liquid-manure  cistern. 
He  thinks  he  cannot  farm  it  without  liquid  manure, 
and  he  is  quite  right.  In  the  States  we  invariably 
let  all  the  liquid  manure  go  to  waste,  and  in  its 
place  pay  out  annually  (in  the  State  of  New  York) 
over  $6,000,000  for  commercial  fertilizer,  as  already 
shown;  when  if  the  liquid  manure  of  the  farms 
through  the  State,  that  now  goes  to  waste,  was 


128  Barn  Construction. 

saved,  it  would  probably  be  worth  as  much  to  the 
farmers  as  the  commercial  fertilizer  they  now  an- 
nually purchase.  It  is  strongly  recommended  to 
every  farmer  to  try  and  arrange  some  sort  of  cistern 
for  this  valuable  fertilizer,  just  outside  the  barn, 
where  the  liquid  from  horses  and  cattle  and  the 
drain  of  the  barn  could  be  saved.  There  are  any 
quantity  of  patent  liquid  manure-spreaders  in  Eng- 
land, and  there  will  be  plenty  of  them  in  this  coun- 
try, when  there  is  a  demand.  The  Channel  Island- 
ers mostly  pump  it  into  a  hogshead  on  a  two- wheel 
cart,  and  pull  a  plug  to  let  it  discharge  into  a  wooden 
box,  about  4  by  6  inches  square,  at  the  rear  of  the 
wagon.  This  box  is  bored  full  of  small  holes  on  the 
back  side.  After  what  I  have  witnessed  on  the 
islands  of  Jersey  and  Guernsey,  I  would  never  again 
attempt  to  farm  without  a  liquid-manure  cistern. 

THE  MANGERS. 

My  experience  with  cattle  mangers  has  been  va- 
ried. The  requirements  are,  first,  something  that 
can  be  easily,  and  quickly,  and  thoroughly  cleaned ; 
second,  there  must  be  no  corners  or  partitions  be- 
tween cows  to  accumulate  dirt  or  grain  that  in  time 
becomes  filth.  The  cows,  we  have  shown,  require 
plenty  of  pure,  fresh  air,  and  we  must  see  that  there 
is  nothing  accumulating  under  their  noses  to  defeat 
that  end.  The  most  serviceable  manger  is  one  built 
entirely  of  concrete  and  cement,  or,  if  made  of  wood, 
it  must  be  so  constructed  as  to  make  the  joints  water- 


Barn   Construction.  129 

tight.  If  there  is  any  place  in  the  barn  that  should 
be  kept  scrupulously  clean,  it  is  the  mangers  in 
front  of  the  cows,  over  which  they  must  breathe 
for  the  greater  part  of  their  lives. 

All  the  partitions  that  are  needed  between  cattle 
is  one  just  large  enough  to  keep  them  from  hooking 
each  other,  or  getting  at  each  other's  allowance  of 
food. 

The  cattle  always  show  to  best  advantage  in  barns 
with  the  least  possible  amount  of  woodwork  be- 
tween them.  Twenty  years'  experience  in  exhibit- 
ing cattle  at  fairs  has  taught  me  that  the  most 
effective  display  is  made  in  a  tent  where  the  cattle 
are  simply  tied  to  a  2  x  4  rail  fastened  to  stakes  driv- 
en in  the  ground,  and  the  rail  being  about  a  foot 
above  the  ground,  with  no  partition  or  anything  be- 
tween them  or  about  them  in  any  way.  In  order  to 
economize  room  in  stables  and  stand  the  cattle 
closer  together,  some  little  barrier  or  partition  di- 
viding the  stalls  is  necessary.  The  partitions  are 
three  feet  six  inches  apart.  If  four  feet  can  be  given 
to  each  cow,  they  will  require  no  partition  whatever, 
if  fastened  by  a  halter,  or  as  described  further  on. 

In  the  illustration  on  page  130  will  be  found  my 
idea  of  stall  and  manger  with  partitions.  The  par- 
titions are  made  of  one  and  one-half  and  three- 
quarter  inch  galvanized  gas  pipe  as  shown,  the  ends 
imbedded  in  cement.  A  three-quarter  inch  pipe  at 
c  braces  the  partitions  sideways.  Hanging  to  the 
pipe  oo  is  a  board  bb  that  separates  the  mangers, 
but  does  not  quite  touch  the  bottom  of  the  manger, 
9 


130 


Barn  Construction. 


Barn  Construction.  131 

and  in  cleaning  out  the  latter  may  be  swung  to  one 
side,  either  at  right  angles  to  the  position  shown,  or 
removed  entirely  by  unhanging  it,  thus  making 
a  clear  passage  from  one  end  of  the  stable  to  the 
other,  which  is  thus  easily  flushed  and  cleaned  by 
turning  on  a  hose.  These  feed-box  partitions  are 
held  stationary  by  a  simple  fastening,  as  shown  at  h. 
A  two-inch  galvanized  gas  pipe  A  forms  the  top  of 
manger.  The  floor  on  which  the  cattle  stand  may 
be  thoroughly  cleaned  with  the  greatest  of  ease,  and 
no  place  is  left  to  accumulate  filth. 

The  platform  on  which  the  cows  stand  is  also 
made  of  cement,  or  boards,  or  plank  laid  in  cement. 
There  should  be  no  air  space  under  the  floor  to  col- 
lect dampness  and  rot  the  timbers.  The  distance 
from  manger  to  drop,  without  grating,  for  ordinary 
sized  cows,  should  begin  at  four  feet  six  or  eight 
inches  at  one  end  of  the  stable,  and  may  be  reduced 
to  four  feet  at  the  other  end,  and  then  place  the  cows 
according  to  their  size  or  length.  With  an  iron  grat- 
ing over  the  drop,  the  platform  should  be  made  about 
six  inches  shorter,  so  as  to  bring  the  hind  feet  of  the 
cow  onto  the  grating. 

CATTLE  TIES. 

Where  economy  of  space  is  required,  stanchions 
(which  should  always  be  the  swinging  kind — see 
illustration)  enable  the  cattle  to  be  put  in  stalls 
about  three  feet  apart  from  centre  to  centre. 

But  where  pure-bred  animals  are  kept,  and  it  is 
desirous  to  make  as  favorable  a  display  of  them  in 


132  Barn  Construction. 

the  barn  as  possible,  the  stanchions  are  not  the 
thing.  They  hide  the  cattle  too  much,  and  they 
must  be  given  a  little  more  space,  i.  e. ,  three  feet  six 


The  Swinging  Stanchion. 

inches;  in  which  case  there  is  no  simpler  tie  than 
a  strap  about  the  neck,  which  is  fastened  by  a  short 
chain  to  the  middle  of  the  manger. 

This  fastening  may  be  so  arranged  as  to  liberate 
the  whole  row  at  once,  if  it  is  desirable  to  do  so,  by 
simply  pulling  on  a  lever,  operating  an  iron  rod  that 
runs  the  entire  length  of  the  stalls  through  the 
2 -inch  iron  pipe  that  forms  the  top  of  the  manger 
next  to  the  cow.  The  next  best  tie  is  a  common 
web  halter. 

Whatever  kind  of  tie  you   decide  upon,   get  a 


Barn   Construction.  133 

noiseless  one.  There  are  some  fairly  good  patent 
ties.  I  have  had  most  of  them  on  trial,  but  they 
are  either  a  weight  on  the  cow's  neck,  and  make  a 
lot  of  noise,  or  take  too  much  room.  The  trap  is 
noiseless,  light,  and  gives  the  greatest  amount  of 
freedom.  I  say  noiseless ;  the  short  chain  rattles  a 
little,  but  a  rope  may  be  substituted,  or  the  chain 
covered  with  leather. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
STABLE  MANAGEMENT. 

STABLE  MANAGEMENT  IN  WINTER. 

IN  the  winter  time  the  cows  are  kept  in  nights, 
and  turned  out  during  the  daytime,  when  the 
weather  is  favorable.  I  protest  against  the  princi- 
ple of  keeping  cows  in  the  stable  all  winter  without 
going  out,  as  is  being  advocated  by  some.  The 
argument  is  that  cold  requires  extra  fuel  (feed),  and 
that  exercise  also  is  at  the  expense  of  extra  feed, 
and  that  a  cow  can  only  consume  and  assimilate  so 
much  food  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  if  she  expends 
it  in  additional  heat  to  keep  the  body  warm,  or  in  re- 
placing the  wasted  tissues  or  muscles  by  exercise,  she 
will  have  just  so  much  less  fuel  to  convert  into  milk 
and  butter.  This  is  undoubtedly  true,  theoretically 
at  least.  But  unfortunately  this  is  not  the  whole  truth. 
While  a  cow  is  a  machine,  as  has  been  said,  she  is 
not  an  iron  machine.  They  should  most  certainly 
be  turned  out  every  day  during  the  winter  that  the 
weather  is  suitable,  as  an  appetizer,  an  invigorator, 
and  for  the  relaxation  of  certain  muscles.  But  while 
it  may  cost  a  few  pounds  of  milk  in  the  daily  yield, 
for  the  year  it  will,  I  am  sure,  be  enough  greater 
to  make  up  any  temporary  loss.  It  must  be  borne 


Stable  Management.  135 

in  mind  that,  while  a  cow  is  a  machine,  she  is  not 
a  finished  machine.  She  is  constantly  rebuilding 
and  repairing  her  body,  not  only  in  one  part  or  par- 
ticular, but  the  whole  system  is  being  constantly  over- 
hauled and  renewed. 

That  a  herd  of  cattle  may  be  collected  and  put  in 
the  barn,  and  fed  there  for  six  months  or  a  year, 
without  stepping  a  foot  outside,  summer  or  winter, 
can  be  done,  and  that  the  owner  will  not  be  liable 
to  see  any  bad  effects  to  the  cattle  themselves,  is  a 
fact  possibly  true;  but  it  is  only  a  question  of  a 
few  years  when  that  man  will  discover  his  mistake. 
The  reader's  attention  is  called  to  the  Havemeyer 
herd,  one  of  the  prominent  dairy  herds  in  this  coun- 
try. This  herd  was  fed  continuously  in  the  barn 
until  the  mistake  was  discovered,  necessitating  a 
decided  outcross  with  animals  of  stamina  and  more 
robust  constitution.  If,  therefore,  you  have  any  re- 
spect for  the  future  generations  and  would  breed  to 
improvement,  give  your  dairy  cows  and  growing 
dairy  calves  all  the  outdoor  exercise  they  require  in 
suitable  weather.  If  the  weather  is  bad  for  a  week, 
keep  them  in  for  a  week.  Don't  be  a  crank  and 
drive  them  out  in  weather  foul  and  fair.  A  cow  is 
a  machine,  but  the  strength  of  the  machinery  is  de- 
pendent upon  health,  and  the  ability  to  eat  depends 
upon  an  appetite.  Whatever  you  can  do  to  keep  up 
her  energies  and  stimulate  her  appetite  will  be 
found  the  surest,  safest,  and,  in  the  long  run,  the 
wisest  and  most  economical  course  to  pursue. 


1 36  Soiling. 


STABLE  MANAGEMENT  IN  SUMMER. 

The  stable  management  for  summer  is  just  the 
reverse  of  the  winter  method,  i.e.,  during  summer, 
as  soon  as  fly  time  begins,  that  is,  June  ist,  or  be- 
fore, the  windows  of  the  barn  should  be  darkened, 
the  cattle  kept  in  all  day,  and  turned  out  in  an  or- 
chard or  a  small  enclosure  nights  after  milking,  and 
admitted  to  the  barn  early  next  morning.  During 
the  night  the  barn  doors  may  be  left  open,  but  they 
should  be  closed  as  soon  as  the  cattle  enter  and  kept 
closed  all  day  as  much  as  possible.  You  will  find 
with  the  outside  walls  built  as  described,  with  two 
air  spaces,  that  when  the  cool  night  air  is  shut  in 
the  barn  the  heat  of  the  sun  will  have  no  effect 
upon  it,  except  from  the  fresh  air  that  afterward 
enters  through  the  flues.  This  will  not  make  much 
impression,  as  all  the  woodwork  and  floors  are 
thoroughly  cooled  during  the  night,  and  will  remain 
so  to  a  great  extent  all  day. 

We  have  now  shown  the  advantages  of  soiling 
and  the  most  convenient  barn  construction  for  pur- 
suing the  system  most  economically.  We  may  now 
turn  our  attention  to  the  best  crops  for  soiling. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
SOILING  CHOPS. 

THE  different  crops  that  may  be  used  to  advantage 
may  be  selected  from  the  following  list  by  the  soiler, 
with  reference  to  the  nature  of  his  soil,  climate,  and 
the  condition  of  his  farm,  and  the  kind  of  stock 
soiled. 

I  have  noticed  only  those  that  have  come  into 
general  use,  and  with  which  I  have  had  personal 
experience,  unless  otherwise  stated.  Rye,  followed 
by  wheat  (sown  in  the  fall),  followed  by  spring  sow- 
ings of  oats  and  peas,  and  these  by  sweet  corn  and 
sorghum,  with  millet,  crimson  clover,  and  barley  to 
carry  the  stock  through  to  ensilage. 

RYE. 

There  is  probably  no  other  plant  grown  for  soiling 
which  furnishes  such  an  abundance  of  food  early  in 
the  season.  It  occupies  the  ground  when  no  other 
crop  except  wheat  will  grow.  It  is  less  sensitive  to 
cold  than  wheat,  and  its  vegetation  is  more  rapid. 
It  may  also  be  cultivated  longer  on  the  same  soil 
than  any  other  crop  of  cereals,  as  it  is  far  less  ex- 
haustive to  the  soil.  It  will  produce  a  fair  yield 
where  wheat  will  not  pay  the  expense  of  growing 


138  Soiling. 


The  land  plowed  early  in  the  spring  for  oats,  and 
peas,  and  corn,  and  sorghum,  should  all  be  sown  to 
rye  the  fall  before,  and  top-dressed  during  the  win- 
ter. It  is  much  better  that  the  soil  should  be  bear- 
ing a  crop,  even  if  very  late  sown,  so  late  that 
it  does  not  even  come  up,  than  to  remain  fallow  all 
winter,  especially  where  the  practice  is  to  top-dress 
in  the  winter,  which  method  has  given  me  the  best 
results  of  any,  so  far  as  the  application  of  barnyard 
manure  is  concerned.  Sow  two  bushels  per  acre. 

WHEAT. 

In  some  respects  wheat  is  a  better  soiling  crop 
than  rye.  It  may  be  fed  longer,  that  is  to  say,  when 
it  is  more  mature  than  rye.  Rye  is  fit  to  cut 
earlier,  therefore  has  that  advantage,  as  well  as  the 
other  good  qualities  already  mentioned.  But  its 
fault,  its  only  fault,  I  might  say,  is  that  soon  after 
heading  it  becomes  tough.  An  acre  of  wheat  sown 
early  to  follow  rye  is  a  most  excellent  practice,  and 
will  come  in  handy  between  rye  and  oats  and  peas. 

The  beardless  varieties  are  preferable.  Sow  two 
bushels  per  acre. 

BARLEY. 

Barley  makes  a  most  excellent  soiling  crop,  and 
in  a  cold  backward  spring  had  better  be  put  in  for  the 
first  spring  sowing  with  peas,  as  it  will  stand  more 
cold  and  grow  at  a  lower  temperature  than  oats. 

Barley  as  a  soiling  crop  is  well  relished  by  cattle. 


Soiling  Crops.  139 

Barley  and  peas  on  rich  land  make  a  most  desirable 
soiling  crop. 

It  is  also  one  of  the  best  late  soiling  crops  for 
October,  sown  after  the  first  cutting  of  oats  and 
peas,  for  the  reason  above  given,  that  it  stands  quite 
a  frost,  and  keeps  on  growing  when  oats  and  corn 
find  it  too  cold.  Mr.  A.  W.  Cheever,  of  the  "  New 
England  Farmer,"  says:  "Two  years'  experience 
with  barley  for  cutting  in  September,  October,  and 
November  shows  that  it  is  very  valuable  for  late  fall 
feeding,  as  it  is  not  much  injured  by  frosts.  Some 
of  my  neighbors  have  been  cutting  it  this  season, 
even  after  the  ground  was  frozen."  For  this  pur- 
pose, the  six-rowed  barley  is  said  to  withstand 
the  cold  better  than  the  two-rowed  variety.  Says 
Mr.  Flint  ("  Grasses  and  Forage  Plants"),  "  It  has 
passed  into  a  regular  six-rowed  variety,  which  is  a 
winter  grain,  and  endures  more  severe  cold. " 

Sow  with  common  Canadian  field  peas,  three 
bushels  per  acre,  half  and  half. 

OATS  AND  PEAS. 

When  it  comes  to  a  question  of  the  very  best  soil- 
ing ration  for  producing  the  greatest  flow  of  milk, 
there  is  no  forage  crop  that,  in  my  experience,  ex- 
ceeds oats  and  peas. 

Sow  as  early  in  the  spring  as  the  ground  will  per- 
mit, and  begin  cutting  when  the  oats  are  heading, 
and  the  peas  have  well-grown  pods.  Sow  equal 
parts,  and  three  bushels  per  acre.  My  practice  has 


140  Soiling. 

always  been  to  put  it  in  with  a  common  grain  drill, 
but  some  advocate  putting  the  peas  in  deep  and 
broadcasting  the  oats.  I  cannot  say  as  to  this.  •  I 
always  had  great  success  putting  them  in  together 
with  the  drill,  making  one  job  of  it.  I  do  not  see 
how  it  is  possible  to  produce  any  better  results  than 
I  have  attained  by  this  method. 

Oats  and  peas  are  a  most  excellent  soiling  crop  for 
ewes  when  suckling  their  lambs,  and  when  it  is  de- 
sirable to  crowd  the  lambs  for  the  butcher,  they  will 
be  found  a  most  excellent  assistant.  Brood  mares 
with  foal  at  foot  can  have  no  better  treatment  than 
to  be  put  into  the  barn  daytimes,  and  fed  a  liberal 
supply  of  oats  and  peas.  I  am  in  favor  of  it  for 
work-horses,  if  they  must  have  green  food.  Of 
course,  there  is  nothing  better  than  good  timothy 
hay  and  oats  for  a  horse  to  work  on,  but  oats  and 
peas  may  be  fed  without  loosening  the  bowels,  as  is 
often  the  case  with  grass  or  clover.  Lucern,  how- 
ever, is,  no  doubt,  quite  equal  to  oats  and  peas  for 
feeding  horses.  In  feeding  oats  and  peas  to  work 
horses,  I  prefer  them  well  advanced,  that  is  to  say, 
the  heads  well  formed,  and  the  peas  old  enough  for 
table  purpose,  or  a  little  beyond  that  stage.  In  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Crozier,  of  Long  Island,  after  men- 
tioning several  of  the  leading  crops  that  he  uses  for 
soiling,  he  says,  "  I  also  grow  that  most  valuable  crop 
for  soiling,  oats  and  peas,  one  of  the  best  crops  I 
grow. " 

Mr.  T.  Brown,  in  an  article  in  "  The  Country  Gen- 
tleman, "  gives  it  as  his  experience  that  oats  cut  and 


Soiling  Crops.  141 

fed  green  will  produce  the  most  milk  of  all  green 
crops,  and  will  be  the  greatest  profit  to  the  cheese 
factory.  For  my  own  part  I  look  upon  oats  and 
peas  as  the  staple  soiling  crop.  Of  course,  later  in 
the  season  we  must  resort  to  corn  and  sorghum  in 
most  parts  of  the  United  States,  as  these  crops  grow 
and  thrive  better  in  hot  weather,  and  in  time  of 
drought. 

Iowa  Bulletin,  Number  19,  1892, 

Reports  that  up  to  this  time  they  have  had  most 
success  with  oats  and  peas.  Recommend  one  and 
one-half  bushels  of  oats  and  one  and  three-fourths 
bushels  of  peas  per  acre.  The  peas  are  sown  broad- 
cast and  cultivated  both  ways.  Then  the  oats  are 
sown  broadcast  and  harrowed  each  way.  Work  be- 
gan April  loth  and  cut  July  7th.  The  three  best 
varieties  of  peas  were : 

Weighed  Green.  Cured. 

Rennie's  No.  10 14.2  5.5 

Greenfield 14. 2  4. 2 

Egyptian 13.2  3.6 

It  further  says  that  peas  and  oats  cut  in  this  stage 
form  one  of  the  richest  foods,  especially  in  protein 
and  fat. 

CORN. 

For  soiling  purposes  the  smaller  growing  varieties 
are  quite  large  enough.  My  personal  experience 
has  been  mostly  with  Stowell's  Evergreen  and  "  Sou 


142  Soiling. 

Fodder"  and   common  Northern  varieties  of  field 
corn.     The   principal    advantage  in  selecting    the 


smaller  varieties  is  that  they  are  more  convenient  to 
handle,  and  more  suitable  for  feeding  whole  in  the 
cattle's  mangers. 


Soiling  Crops  143 

Within  the  last  few  years  the  introduction  of  ma- 
chines for  the  special  purpose  of  harvesting  stand- 
ing corn  and  ensilage  fodder  has  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  dairyman  a  most  valuable  and  labor- 
saving  device,  which  can  be  heartily  recommended 
to  any  one  soiling  their  cattle,  when  the  number  of 
animals  soiled  will  warrant  the  outlay. 

There  is  a  variety  of  fodder  used  in  the  West  that, 
from  its  description,  should  make  a  valuable  variety 
of  soiling,  i.e.,  the  Pearl  Flint  variety.  It  is  said  to 
set  from  three  to  six  ears  to  stalk,  with  medium 
growth  stalk.  Sow  from  one  to  one  and  one-half 
bushels  per  acre.  It  should  be  sown  thicker  than 
for  ensilage. 

The  most  convenient  way  of  planting  is  with  a 
grain  drill  rigged  to  drop  a  kernel  every  four  to 
six  inches,  and  in  rows  from  twenty-eight  to  thirty- 
five  inches  apart.  That  is,  providing  the  drills  of 
the  seeder  are  the  usual  width,  that  is,  seven 
inches.  If  eight  inches,  the  rows  should  be  twenty- 
seven  or  thirty-two  inches  apart.  If  a  drill  is  not 
geared  to  drop  the  required  number  by  allowing 
one  tube  to  run,  two  or  three  feeds  can  be  run  into 
one  of  the  cast  shoes  by  simply  taking  the  rub- 
ber tubes  from  their  respective  shoes,  and  letting 
them  discharge  into  one  shoe  or  drill.  An  eleven- 
hoed  drill  is  the  most  convenient  for  this  purpose, 
and  usually  the  proper  gearing  can  be  had  to  sow 
the  desired  amount  from  the  discharge  of  single 
tubes.  In  an  eleven-hoed  drill,  let  Nos.  2,  6,  and  10 
drills  discharge.  This  will  plant  three  rows  at  a 


144  Soiling. 

time,  twenty-eight  inches  apart.  If  it  is  thought 
best  to  plant  thirty-five  inchesa  part,  let  Nos.  3  and 
8  discharge ;  in  each  case  the  wheel  of  the  drill  will 
answer  for  a  guide  in  the  return  bout.  When  sown 
broadcast,  the  leaves  stop  short  of  full  develop- 
ment, the  stalk  is  weak,  and  liable  to  be  thrown 
down  by  storms,  and  has  not  the  strength  to  right 
itself.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  the  ground 
should  be  well  manured  and  cultivated.  Mr.  Har- 
ris Lewis  says  that  he  has  found  Stowell's  Ever- 
green sweet  corn  makes  the  richest  milk  of  all  the 
plants  he  has  tried. 

SORGHUM. 

My  experience  in  growing  sorghum  for  a  soiling 
crop  has  been  so  satisfactory  that  I  can  heartily 
recommend  it  to  any  one  wishing  to  try  it.  It  has 
but  a  single  fault.  It  is  slow  at  starting.  In  1878 
several  farmers,  including  myself,  became  inter- 
ested in  the  question  of  growing  sugar  cane  (sor- 
ghum) which  we  had  made  into  syrup.  1  had 
planted  about  an  acre,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  germi- 
nate, and  I  bought  seed  for  as  much  more.  To  my 
surprise  the  former  planting  came  on  all  right,  and 
I  had  twice  as  much  as  I  cared  to  have  made  into 
syrup,  and  the  result  was  that  we  tried  it  as  a  soil- 
ing crop,  and  found  that  the  cows  not  only  ate  it 
with  great  relish,  but  that  they  made  a  slight  in- 
crease in  the  flow  of  milk.  Subsequently  I  made  a 
practice  of  sowing  it  yearly,  and  have  strongly  ad- 


Soiling  Crops.  145 

vocated  its  use  ever  since.  I  have  seen  it  claimed 
that  three  and  four  cuttings  could  be  made  from  the 
one  seeding  in  a  season,  but  I  have  never  been  able 
to  obtain  more  than  two,  and  the  last  two  years  I 
used  this  second  growth  to  plow  under,  sowing  the 
ground  to  rye  for  the  next  spring's  crop.  This,  I 
believe,  is  one  of  the  advantages  of  the  crop,  that 
the  seed  grows  the  first  crop  for  the  cattle  and  the 
second  crop  for  the  land  the  same  season,  followed 
by  rye  for  the  first  cutting  next  spring.  This  gives 
two  soiling  crops  and  one  green  manure  crop  upon 
the  same  land  in  a  single  season.  Sorghum,  when 
once  established,  will  flourish  during  a  drought  in 
which  corn  conies  to  a  standstill.  Some  recommend 
drilling  it  in  with  corn,  or  in  alternate  rows  with 
corn.  I  should  think  this  would  be  a  very  good 
idea. 

It  is  possible,  no  doubt,  that  in  the  Southern 
States,  where  the  seasons  are  longer,  and  where  land 
is  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  it  might  produce 
two  crops  or  even  three  as  claimed;  and  as  it  is 
a  comparatively  new  soiling  forage,  I  submit  the 
following  reports  from  experimental  stations  and 
from  newspaper  articles  on  the  subject.  Sow  in 
drills  to  cultivate  same  as  corn,  as  it  starts  slowly. 
It  is  better  to  plant  on  sod,  thus  preventing  weeds 
getting  the  start  of  it. 
10 


146  Soiling. 


SORGHUM  REPORTS. 
Georgia  Bulletin,  Number  13,  1891. 

"  This  class  of  plants,  as  shown  by  the  analysis,  is 
highly  nutritious.  Three  or  four  cuttings  can  be 
obtained  during  one  season,  outyielding  almost  any 
other  forage  plant.  The  seed,  of  which  the  stock 
produces  an  abundance,  compares  favorably  with 
corn  as  a  food.  The  sorghum  will  stand  a  dryer 
season  than  the  corn.  When  corn  rolls  or  the  plants 
are  drooping  or  standing  still,  the  sorghums  are  lit- 
tle affected,  but  continue  to  grow  and  yield  good  re- 
turns in  fodder  and  grain,  so  that  they  are  even 
more  reliable  as  a  soiling  crop  than  corn.  They  are 
greatly  relished  by  all  farm  animals,  green  or  cured ; 
and  it  is  claimed  that  the  milk  and  butter  as  well  are 
improved  in  quality  and  quantity  when  fed  to  milch 
cows.  A  little  more  care  should  be  exercised  in  at- 
tempting to  cure  sorghum  than  corn,  as  it  heats 
easily  when  in  too  large  shocks.  The  best  plan  is 
to  cut  it,  and  let  it  lay  on  the  ground  and  wilt,  tying 
in  small  bundles  and  shocking  it  by  setting  the 
bundles  so  as  to  support  each  other  like  shocks  of 
wheat. 

"  It  is  sown  in  drills  and  cultivated  the  same  way  as 
corn.  The  first  cutting  should  be  done  before  the 
stalk  flowers.  It  should  be  thoroughly  cultivated 
between  each  cutting.  Level  culture  is  best,  in 
drills  or  hills,  the  same  as  corn.  Animals  prefer 


Soiling  Crops. 


'47 


sorghum  to  any  other  article  of  forage  diet.  Con- 
sidering its  ability  to  grow  in  the  hottest  and  driest 
weather,  and  that  three  and  four  cuttings  with  one 
planting  can  be  obtained  on  rich  land,  there  is  no 
plant  for  soiling  which  can  equal  or  surpass  sor- 
ghum in  the  production  of  milk.  Yellow  orange  is 
given  as  the  best  sorghum,  containing  the  largest 
proportion  of  dry  matter  per  acre." 


FIRST 
CUTTING. 

SECOND 
CUTTING. 

THIRD 

CUTTING. 

TOTAL. 

Green. 

Dry. 

Green. 

Dry. 

Green. 

Dry. 

Green. 

Dry. 

Link's  hybrid  
Early  orange  
White  Milo  
Bennett's  prolific  

22,464 
!8,76o 
18,928 
24,960 

2.57Q 
2,392 
2,204 
7,072 

13,728 
10,054 
16,640 

1,996 
1,788 
2,704 

8,320 
7,072 
16,224 

1,664 
1,289 
2,579 

44,5" 
37.3S6 

51,792 

6,239 
5,169 
7,487 

Brazilian 

23,472 

6,489 

Starts  slowly. 

Kansas  Bulletin,  Number  18,  1890,  page  175. 

"The  problem  is  complicated  in  Kansas  by  the 
uncertainty  of  rainfall,  and  by  its  unequal  distribu- 
tion. Corn  is  the  universal  forage  plant  in  the 
West,  and  in  good  seasons  it  is  doubtful  if  anything 
better  can  be  grown,  but  for  the  greater  part  of 
Kansas  it  is  too  uncertain  to  be  depended  upon  to 
furnish  the  necessary  forage,  owing  to  drought  in 
July  and  August,  and  uncommonly  early  killing 
frosts. " 


1 48  Soiling. 


NON-SACCHARINE  SORGHUMS. 

This  class  of  sorghums  is,  as  a  rule,  a  generous 
grower,  producing  in  good  seasons  a  heavy  yield  of 
leafy  and  palatable  feed,  which  compares  very  fa- 
vorably with  corn  fodder.  In  dry  seasons  these 
sorghums  have  the  advantage  over  corn  that  they 
are  not  affected  by  drought  to  the  same  degree.  In 
continued  dry  weather,  they  will  remain  nearly  sta- 
tionary, but  when  rain  does  come  they  again  pick 
up  and  push  ahead  vigorously,  whereas  corn,  when 
once  stunted,  never  recovers.  They  will  also  make 
a  better  growth  on  poor  land  than  corn  can  do,  and 
under  the  combination  of  a  dry  season  and  on  poor 
land,  where  corn  will  be  a  complete  failure,  these 
sorghums  may  still  give  a  fair  crop. 

The  non-saccharine  sorghums  are  as  a  class  heavy 
yielders  of  seeds,  and  the  seeds  compare  very  favor- 
ably with  corn  in  its  composition  and  feeding  proper- 
ties. 

Plant  in  drills;  cultivate  same  as  corn,  three  feet 
apart  in  rows. 

Kansas  Bulletin,  Number  18. 

"  Corn  and  sorghum,  in  alternate  rows  and  in  the 
same  row,  gave  best  results  in  the  latter  case.  The 
theory  is  that  plants  with  different  habits  of  growth 
and  feeding  powers  produce  a  heavier  growth  by 
planting  together  than  separately." 


Soiling  Crops.  149 


ARIZONA. 

Sorghum  and  alfalfa  supplement  each  other,  each 
supplying  what  the  other  lacks  to  make  a  good  cattle 
food. 

EDS.  COUNTRY  GENTLEMAN:  In  the  suggestion  to  W.  L., 
page  206,  who  wishes  to  try  soiling,  there  is  nothing  said 
about  sorghum,  and  yet  it  is  without  question  the  best  soiling 
crop,  yielding  food  rich  and  palatable  and  which  can  be  cut  in 
two  months  from  sowing  the  seed,  and  is  in  its  prime  in  less 
than  three  months.  It  has  the  property  of  enduring  drought 
beyond  any  valuable  plant  that  I  am  acquainted  with,  and  it 
is  eaten  absolutely  without  waste.  Besides,  it  has  so  much 
the  nature  of  grass  that  its  quality  is  not  impaired  by  thick 
planting,  as  is  corn.  If  W.  L.  will  try  a  plat  of  it  this  year  I 
predict  that  he  will  never  go  through  a  summer  again  without 
it.  When  you  find  a  crop  that  will  furnish  full  feed  for  six 
cows  a  day  from  a  square  rod,  you  will  realize  the  value  of 
soiling  crops ;  and  I  have  done  this  with  sorghum  repeatedly, 
grown  without  any  cultivation.  W.  F.  BROWN. 

KAFFIR  CORN  (NON-SACCHARINE  SORGHUM). 

We  have  read  more  or  less  concerning  this  variety 
of  forage,  and  I  have  taken  considerable  pains  to  as- 
certain its  real  value  compared  with  Stowell's  Ever- 
green and  sorghum.  It  is  a  corn  with  similar  habits 
to  the  saccharine  sorghums.  The  following  article 
appeared  in  the  "  Breeder's  Gazette,"  and  as  it  pro- 
duces such  strong  evidence  of  the  value  of  Kaffir 
corn,  I  publish  as  much  of  the  article  as  pertains  to 
its  value  as  a  soiling  crop : 


150  Soiling. 


KAFFIR  CORN  AS  A  SUBSTITUTE  FOR   INDIAN   CORN. 

"  The  saccharine  sorghums,  after  being  subjected 
to  thorough  tests  through  a  long  series  of  years, 
have  been  accorded  a  high  place  among  the  forage 
plants  of  America.  In  one  respect,  however,  the 
sugar  sorghums  did  not  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
central  and  western  trans-Missouri  country.  The 
requirements  were  these: 

"  i.  A  plant  with  great  drought-resisting  powers. 

"2.  A  plant  cheaply  grown,  cheaply  harvested, 
cheaply  cured,  and  cheaply  fed. 

"  3.  A  plant  which  would  be  practically  a  substi- 
tute for  corn  in  the  production  and  value  of  grain. 

"  The  sugar  sorghums  meet  all  these  requirements 
except  the  last.  As  a  purely  forage  plant  it  stands 
without  a  rival. 

"  What  is  needed  in  the  trans-Missouri  country,  in 
addition  to  the  sweet  sorghums,  is  a  plant  which  has 
all  the  staying  qualities  of  the  former,  but  which 
exerts  its  energies  in  the  production  of  grain  high 
in  quality  and  quantity.  Such  a  plant  would  come 
nearer  a  substitute  for  Indian  corn  than  the  sugar 
sorghums,  and  the  two  together  would  supplement 
each  other,  and  combined  would  meet  all  the  re- 
quirements for  feed  in  the  trans-Missouri  country. 
This  kind  of  a  plant  Kansas  farmers  believe  they 
have  discovered  in  Kaffir  corn. 

"  Kaffir  corn  is  one  of  the  many  varieties  of  the 


Soiling  Crops.  151 

non-saccharine  sorghums,  and  one  which  has  forced 
its  way  to  the  front  and  scored  a  decided  victory 
over  all  other  members  of  the  same  family.  Its 
chief  competitors  for  supremacy  were  rice  corn, 
Milo  maize,  and  Jerusalem  corn.  After  a  fair  and 
thorough  test  at  the  Kansas  Agricultural  Experi- 
ment Station,  and  on  the  great  experimental 
grounds  of  Central  and  Western  Kansas,  over  a  pe- 
riod of  fifteen  years  or  more,  all  competitors  practi- 
cally withdrew  from  the  field,  and  Kaffir  corn  wears 
the  laurels.  The  more  farmers  become  acquainted 
with  it  and  with  the  manner  of  its  behavior  in  times 
of  a  crisis,  the  more  they  appreciate  its  high  quali- 
ties. Here  is  an  object-lesson  given  on  my  own 
farm :  It  was  necessary  last  spring  to  replant  a  por- 
tion of  the  area  planted  to  corn,  which  was  done 
about  May  2oth.  About  the  same  time  fourteen 
acres  of  Kaffir  corn  were  planted.  The  late-planted 
corn  was  practically  ruined  by  the  excessive  heat 
the  latter  part  of  August,  while  the  Kaffir  went 
through  practically  unscathed  and  yields  over  thirty 
bushels  per  acre.  In  times  of  heat  and  drought  it 
bravely  holds  up  its  head,  and  for  the  time  being  it 
stands  still.  With  its  beautiful  green  foliage  it 
seems  to  defy  the  unmerciful  fiends  in  the  red-hot 
air,  and  when  King  Sol  begins  to  relent,  and  gra- 
cious showers  fall,  it  moves  serenely  on  as  though 
nothing  had  happened.  Such  is  Kaffir  corn,  and 
these  are  the  qualities  which  commend  it  to  the 
trans-Missouri  farmer. " 


152  Soiling. 


MILLET. 

This  is  doubtless  one  of  the  most  nutritious  green 
forage  plants  that  is  used  in  soiling  cattle,  as  may 
be  seen  by  reference  to  the  foregoing  tables.  As  a 
green  manure  it  also  ranks  first,  containing  twenty 
pounds  of  nitrogen  and  seventeen  pounds  of  potash 
to  the  ton.  It  germinates  and  grows  very  rapidly, 
and  endures  drought  remarkably  well.  It  is  a  very 
leafy  plant,  and  furnishes  the  most  succulent  food, 
which  is  highly  relished  by  all  kinds  of  stock.  It  is 
said  to  flourish  in  somewhat  higher  and  dryer  soil 
than  other  grasses,  but  it  attains  greatest  luxuriance 
in  soil  of  medium  constancy  and  well  manured.  It 
is  usually  sown  broadcast,  requiring  one  bushel  of 
seed  per  acre,  or  grown  as  hay,  which  can  be  done 
after  a  soiling  crop  of  rye,  oats,  or  peas.  It  makes 
one  of  the  best  rations  according  to  analysis  to 
feed  in  connection  with  ensilage  for  a  winter  feed 
that  can  be  mentioned.  I  have  grown  it  several 
times  as  hay  in  this  manner,  and  like  it  very  much. 
Another  advantage,  and  by  no  means  a  small  con- 
sideration, is  that  it  is  such  a  grand  substitute  for 
hay,  and  can  be  grown  on  the  same  ground  after 
a  crop  of  hay  the  same  season,  or,  as  above  stated, 
after  a  spring  or  early  summer  soiling  crop,  and 
then  followed  by  a  crop  of  rye.  The  same  land  that 
will  produce  one  ton  of  hay  per  acre  will  produce 
at  least  three  tons  of  millet,  and  in  a  favorable  sea- 


Soiling  Crops.  153 

son  and  on  good,  rich  soil,  a  much  larger  yield. 
The  best  crop  of  millet  I  ever  raised  was  after  a 
crop  of  clover,  and  when  the  hay  was  gone  we  sub- 
stituted millet  for  the  noon  ration,  with  ensilage 
morning  and  night.  To  my  surprise  the  cows  did 
equally  as  well  on  it  as  on  the  clover  hay,  and  it  pro- 
duced twice  as  much  feed  per  acre  as  the  clover.  I 
have  also  grown  some  grand  crops  of  millet  after 
oats  and  peas,  simply  cultivating  the  ground  and 
sowing  the  seed,  harrowing,  etc.  It  wants  to  be  cut 
before  the  heads  are  in  "  the  dough. "  When  allowed 
to  stand  until  the  seeds  are  fully  ripened,  the  stalks 
are  rather  tough  and  woody.  It  may  be  sown  as  late 
as  July.  One  bushel  of  seed  per  acre,  broadcast,  and 
harrowed  and  rolled. 

•  CLOVER. 

The  principal  reason  why  clover  has  not  been 
more  extensively  used  as  a  soiling  crop  is  that, 
while  it  is  very  valuable,  there  are  other  crops  used 
instead,  which  produce  two,  four;  or  six  times  as 
much  per  acre,  and  yet  are  not  so  valuable  for  hay. 
It  is  much  cheaper  to  cut  the  feed  for  fourteen  cows 
from  five  or  six  rods  per  day,  than  to  cut  it  from 
ten,  twenty,  or  thirty  rods.  "One  acre  of  clover," 
says  Mr.  H.  Lewis,  "  will  feed  a  dairy  of  forty-five 
cows  fifteen  days,"  and  he  adds  that  three  acres  fur- 
nishes his  herd  of  thirty-eight  cows  by  soiling  five 
weeks.  Mr.  E.  W.  Stewart  says:  "Desiring  to 
know  the  feeding  capacity  of  an  acre  of  clover,  I 
measured  off  forty  square  rods,  and  I  began  feeding 


154  Soiling. 

it  to  seven  cows  and  five  horses.  To  my  surprise  it 
fed  them  fifteen  days,  equal  to  feeding  one  cow  180 
days.  The  two  succeeding  years  I  tried  the  same 
experiment,  feeding  only  cows,  one  of  which  proved 
equal  to  feeding  one  cow  170  days,  the  other  165." 

LUCERN  OR  ALFALFA. 

My  experience  with  growing  lucern  was  at  first 
most  discouraging,  and,  finally,  most  satisfactory. 
In  1877  I  made  a  trial  of  an  eighth  of  an  acre  with 
another  crop  on  land  near  the  barn,  but  it  turned 
out  to  be  such  a  foul  piece  of  land,  and  the  weeds 
were  so  much  in  the  majority,  that  in  the  last  of  July 
I  sowed  the  piece  to  buckwheat  to  subdue  the  weeds. 
I  found  it  a  shy  plant  at  starting,  and  that  on  this  ac- 
count I  had  made  a  great  mistake  in  plowing  in  the 
spring  and  top  dressing  with  stable  manure,  which 
itself  was,  no  doubt,  full  of  weed  seeds.  I  was  de- 
termined, however,  to  have  a  patch  of  lucern.  I 
cultivated  the  lucern  patch  and  sowed  it  to  buck- 
wheat, increasing  the  amount  of  land  to  an  acre. 
The  buckwheat  came  on  well  and  did  the  weeding 
thoroughly.  That  fall  I  plowed  as  deep  as  possible, 
deeper  than  ever  before,  and  sowed  the  piece  to 
rye.  This  rye  crop  I  plowed  under  in  the  following 
spring,  and  fitted  the  ground  with  great  care  by 
cultivating  and  harrowing,  until  I  had  a  seed-bed  fit 
for  a  garden,  and  sowed  twenty  pounds  of  good  fresh 
seed  per  acre.  I  felt  certain  that  only  a  small  por- 
tion of  my  first  seeding  germinated.  Here,  I  be- 


Soiling  Crops.  155 

lieve,  has  been  a  source  of  discouragement  to  many 
others  in  attempting  to  raise  lucern.  Dealers  in 
the  Eastern  States  had  little  call  for  it  at  that  time, 
and  still,  for  that  matter,  they  order  a  few  bags  at  a 
time.  This  time  I  sowed  the  seed  with  a  light  seed- 
ing of  barley,  and  cut  the  barley  for  a  soiling  crop. 
The  lucern  was  just  at  a  stage  where  it  came  on 
with  a  rush,  and  my  seeding  was  a  success.  I  never 
weighed  the  amount  per  acre,  as  I  have  often  wished 
I  had,  but  the  second  year  I  obtained  three  cuttings 
from  it.  That,  I  am  sure,  gave  me  more  forage  than 
from  any  other  acre  I  ever  had  in  soiling  crops.  The 
soil  was  a  deep  gravelly  loam. 

Lucern  is  somewhat  more  difficult  to  cure  than 
clover.  But  as  a  soiling  crop  to  feed  in  connection 
with  corn,  it  has  no  superior.  Corn,  as  will  be  seen 
on  page  12,  is  very  deficient  in  albuminoids,  and 
requires  bran,  shorts,  pea  meal,  linseed,  or  cotton- 
seed meal  to  supply  the  deficiency;  but  green  corn 
or  ensilage,  fed  with  lucern  or  Hungarian  millet, 
makes  a  good  ration.  The  two  fed  together  make 
the  most  desirable  combination  that  can  be  grown. 
Its  ability  to  withstand  great  drought,  owing  to  the 
great  depth  to  which  its  roots  go  for  food,  and  its 
tremendous  yield  per  acre  of  most  succulent  and 
nutritious  forage,  make  it  second  to  none  as  a  soiling 
crop.  One  seeding  will  last  for  years.  It  is  a  crop 
that  answers  well  to  liquid  manure. 

Where  land  is  suitable  for  it,  it  should  be  given 
the  first  place  in  the  list  of  soiling  crops.  It  is  fit 
to  cut  in  the  spring,  nearly  as  soon  as  rye. 


156  Soiling. 


Requirements : 

1.  Fresh,  clean  seed. 

2.  Thorough  preparation  of  soil  after  buckwheat 
or  a  hoed  crop,  and  a  well  pulverized  seed  bed. 

3.  Any  soil  with  porous  subsoil,  which  must  be  so 
open  and  so  located  as  not  to  have  standing  water 
either  on  top  or  in  subsoil.     With  these  requisites 
and    a    good   start    success   is   assured.     I   am   so 
sanguine  of  its  proving  a  success  under  the  above 
conditions   that   I   quote  at  length   the    following, 
confirming  my  own  experience,  and  showing  even 
much  better  results: 

ALFALFA  OR  LUCERN. 

United  States  Bulletin. 

"  Grows  in  every  State  in  the  Union  where  condi- 
tions of  the  soil  are  favorable.  As  a  soiling  crop,  it 
has  no  superior.  From  three  to  four  cuttings  a  year 
can  be  obtained. 

"  It  is  not  a  new  plant  by  any  means.  A  native 
of  Western  Asia,  and,  says  Jared  G.  Smith  in  United 
States  Bulletin  No.  31,  was  introduced  into  Greece 
at  the  time  of  the  Persian  war,  about  470  B.C.  From 
Italy  it  was  introduced  into  Spain  and  the  south  of 
France.  It  was  carried  into  Mexico  at  the  time  of 
*he  Spanish  invasion,  and  thence  to  the  west  coast 
of  South  America.  It  was  brought  from  Chili  to 
California  in  1854,  and  from  there  it  rapidly  spread 
over  the  arid  regions  of  the  Pacific  Coast  and  the 


Soiling  Crops.  157 

Rocky  Mountains,  where  it  is  now  cultivated  almost 
to  the  exclusion  of  other  forage  plants. 

"  Alfalfa  is  a  deep  feeder.  The  tap  roots  descend 
to  great  depths  wherever  the  soil  is  loose  and  per- 
meable, often  averaging  ten  to  twelve  feet.  It  has 
been  recorded  as  sending  its  roots  to  the  depth  of 
fifty  and  sixty-six  feet. 

"  When  the  stems  are  cut  or  grazed  off,  the  stalk 
dies  down  to  the  very  base,  and  new  buds  spring 
up  on  the  upper  part  of  the  crown  of  the  new  root 
and  grow,  forming  new  stems.  This  method  of 
growing  explains  why  so  many  farmers  have  re- 
ported that  alfalfa  is  injured  or  destroyed  by  con- 
tinuous close  grazing.  Prime  condition  for  success 
is  that  the  land  be  well  drained.  Twenty  to  twenty- 
five  pounds  of  seed  per  acre  broadcast.  Fifteen  to 
twenty  pounds  in  drills." 

Nebraska  Reports,  i,  1892.  Article  IX. 
"In  the  fall  of  1892,  during  the  prolonged  and 
severe  drought,  it  was  the  only  green  plant  of  the 
whole  list,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  spring 
was  very  dry.  It  grew  nicely,  and  during  the  year 
made  growth  as  follows: 

1892 — First  cutting,  twenty-six  inches,  June  29. 

Second  cutting,  twenty-six  inches,  August  2. 
Third  cutting,  twenty-six  inches,  September  I. 

Hay,  Pounds.  Per  Acre. 

1893 — June  clover 473  2,365 

Mammoth  clover 475  2,375 

Alfalfa,  first  cut 816  4,080 


158  Soiling. 


First  cutting  hay,  816  Ib. ;  second  cutting  hay,  805  Ib. ;  third  cut- 
ting hay,  743  Ib.;  fourth  cutting  estimated,  180  Ib. ;  a  total  for  one- 
fifth  acre  of  2,544  Ib-,  or  12,720  Ib.  per  acre,  or  six  and  a  half  tons 
of  good  dry  forage. 

"  What  plant  can  we  grow  that  will,  without  special 
care,  give  greater  or  even  equal  returns  of  good  pal- 
atable forage? 

"  It  has  succeeded  in  Southern  California  and 
Mexico,  where  it  has  been  a  godsend  to  those  people 
who  needed  some  permanent  and  reliable  forage 
plant  that  could  withstand  prolonged  heat  and 
drought.  It  goes  to  a  great  depth  in  search  of 
moisture.  Roots  have  been  known  to  reach  the 
depth  of  twenty  feet  or  over.  It  is  a  very  nitro- 
genous plant,  collecting,  it  is  believed,  the  nitrogen 
of  the  soil  through  a  bacteria  that  works  at  the  roots, 
and  is  ever  present  in  the  soil.  It  is,  therefore,  a 
great  renovator  of  the  soil,  and  a  great  accumulator 
of  the  most  desirable,  most  expensive  plant  food, 
nitrogen. 

"  Sown  as  early  as  possible  after  frost.  Land 
should  be  in  excellent  condition.  Fifteen  to  twenty 
pounds  of  good,  fresh  seed  per  acre.  That  of  the 
previous  year's  growth  should  always  be  obtained  if 
possible.  Sow  in  drills  or  broadcast.  Never  sow 
with  another  crop  expecting  good  results,  or  with  a 
very  small  amount  of  grain,  one-half  to  one-fourth 
bushel  of  oats  or  rye  or  wheat  per  acre.  Cut  early 
together  with  all  weeds. 

"  Keep  stock  off  the  field  during  the  first  year  and 
first  part  of  the  second  year.  If  conditions  are  fa- 


Soiling  Crops.  159 

vorable,  you  should  have  a  fine  stand.  Tons  upon 
tons  are  being  cured  for  hay,  and  are  being  fed  to 
cattle  and  to  other  stock. 

"  Food  Values :  The  value  of  any  food  depends 
largely  upon  two  substances  present  in  varying 
quantities.  They  are  the  proteins  and  the  nitrogen 
free  extract.  The  former  is  a  flesh  or  muscle  pro- 
ducer, while  the  latter  is  of  the  fat-producing  order. 

"  Objections :  Not  easily  established.  Cannot  be 
pastured  first  year. 

"  Advantages :  When  once  established,  does  not 
run  out.  Stands  drought  better  than  clover. 
Grows  rapidly,  makes  muscle  rather  than  fat. " 

SOILING  vs.   PASTURING. 
United  States  Report. 

"  Alfalfa  is  one  of  the  very  best  soiling  crops.  It 
may  be  fed  in  this  way  to  better  advantage  than  if 
the  stock  are  pastured  on  the  field.  Cattle  and 
sheep  cannot  be  safely  pastured  on  alfalfa,  particu- 
larly when  it  is  young  and  tender,  or  after  there  has 
been  a  heavy  dew  or  rain.  They  are  always  liable 
to  bloat  if  fed  with  green  or  wet  alfalfa.  Horses 
and  hogs  are  not  affected  in  this  way.  The  loss  of 
sheep  and  cattle  from  tympanitis,  hoven,  or  bloat, 
as  it  is  called,  is  very  great  every  year,  and,  though 
a  herd  may  go  through  an  entire  season  without 
loss,  it  is  never  perfectly  safe  to  permit  it  to  depas- 
ture the  alfalfa.  By  a  proper  arrangement  of  the 
feeding  pens  and  corrals  alongside  or  near  the  field, 


160  Soiling. 

the  method  of  soiling — that  is,  mowing  the  alfalfa 
and  feeding  it  in  a  partially  wilted  state — is  a  cheap 
and  perfectly  safe  one.  The  additional  cost  and 
labor  of  cutting  the  crop,  and  hauling  it  to  the 
feeding  pens,  will  be  less  than  the  loss  that  will  be 
sustained  if  several  head  of  stock  die  of  bloat  during 
the  season.  Young  horses  will  make  a  very  rapid 
growth  if  pastured  on  alfalfa,  especially  if  supple- 
mented by  the  daily  addition  of  a  small  feed  of  oats. 
One  of  the  disadvantages  of  depasturing  alfalfa  is 
that  the  soil  soon  becomes  trampled  and  hard,  and 
for  this  reason  the  roots  are  not  able  to  make  a 
sufficiently  strong  growth,  and  the  field  is  sure  to 
deteriorate." 

ALFALFA  FOR  HOGS. 

"  One  acre  of  alfalfa  will  furnish  forage  for  from 
ten  to  twenty  hogs  per  season.  There  is  no  cheaper 
or  better  way  of  producing  pork  than  to  allow  grow- 
ing pigs  to  run  in  a  field  of  alfalfa.  At  a  conserva- 
tive estimate,  ten  pigs  per  acre  will  gain  a  hundred 
pounds  each  during  the  season  from  May  to  Septem- 
ber, and  1,000  Ib.  of  pork  cannot  be  produced  so 
cheaply  on  any  other  feed.  The  pigs  will  come  out 
of  the  field  in  autumn  in  capital  condition  to  fatten 
with  corn  or  small  grain.  The  alfalfa  in  a  hog  pas- 
ture should  be  mowed  once  or  twice  during  the  sum- 
mer, or  whenever  it  commences  to  get  hard  and 
woody.  This  will  provide  plenty  of  young  and  ten- 
der herbage,  which  is  more  nutritious,  weight  for 


Soiling  Crops.  161 

weight,  than  forage  from  the  older  plants,  and  if  the 
swine  are  provided  with  this  food  in  its  most  nutri- 
tious condition,  their  growth  will  be  most  rapid. 
They  need  to  be  provided  with  an  abundance  of 
fresh  or  running  water  in  their  pastures.  This  for- 
age plant  responds  quickly  to  manuring;  no  other 
fodder  plant  responds  more  promptly  to  extensive 
cultivation.  Yet  it  is  not  advisable  to  apply  stable 
manure  when  preparing  the  ground.  Such  manure 
is  always  full  of  weed  and  grass  seeds  that  have  not 
been  digested,  and  which  are  really  in  better  condi- 
tion to  grow  than  seed  scattered  naturally  in  the 
field." 

ALFALFA  FORAGE  FOR  MILCH  Cows. 
New  York  Experimental  Station,  isth  Annual  Report. 

"  The  importance  of  feeding  leguminous  crops  has 
led  to  many  inquiries  concerning  the  value  of  alfalfa 
as  forage  for  milch  cows,  for  the  alfalfa  is  much 
liked  by  the  cattle  and  other  animals  and  contains 
an  usually  large  proportion  of  nitrogenous  constit- 
uents. The  rapid  growth  of  the  plant,  which  can 
be  cut  three  times  during  the  season,  and  often  four 
times,  makes  it  especially  worthy  of  consideration 
where  soiling  methods  are  practised. 

"  A  few  of  our  farmers  have  grown  good  crops  of 
alfalfa  successfully  for  several  years,  but  it  does  not 
seem  suited  to  some  sections  of  the  State.  Alfalfa 
has  grown  well  on  the  station  farm,  although  the 
soil  is  a  rather  heavy  clay.  A  field  of  alfalfa  of  2. 28 


162 


Soiling. 


acres,  sown  in  1890,  yielded  this  season  (1894)  for 
the  first  two  cuttings — the  first  during  June,  and 


Alfalfa  Seedling,  6  weeks  old. 


Soiling  Crops.  163 

the  second  about  August  ist — at  the  rate  of  24,500 
Ib.  of  green  forage  per  acre.     On  account  of  very 


Alfalfa,  3  years  old. 


164  Soiling. 

severe  drought,  the  third  cutting  was  very  light, 
and  only  part  of  the  field  was  cut  for  the  fourth 
time.  Another  field  of  alfalfa  of  1.3  acres,  sown  in 
1893,  yielded  at  the  rate  of  38,500  Ib.  of  green  for- 
age per  acre,  as  the  total  for  four  cuttings.  The 
last  two  cuttings  were  very  light  on  account  of 
severe  drought.  The  first  two  cuttings,  from  May 
ist  to  3ist,  and  from  July  pth  to  2pth,  yielded  at  the 
rate  of  a  little  over  twelve  tons  of  green  forage  per 
acre.  These  fields  had  been  steadily  cropped  and 
not  well  manured  for  some  years  before  sowing  to 
alfalfa,  and  were  not  in  condition  to  produce  heavy 
crops. 

"  The  palatability  of  alfalfa  or  of  corn  (maize)  is 
greater  than  that  of  most  other  forage  plants  of 
rapid  growth  that  yield  heavy  crops.  This  is  a  mat- 
ter of  the  greatest  importance,  for  while  the  milk 
may  be  temporarily  produced  at  the  expense  of  loss 
in  the  weight  of  the  animal,  the  flow  of  milk  must 
be  sustained  by  the  food  taken  in  excess  of  that 
necessary  for  maintenance. 

"  In  order  to  check  the  growth  of  weeds,  a  mowing 
machine  can  be  run  over  the  field  of  young  alfalfa 
with  the  cutting  bar  raised,  so  as  to  avoid  cutting 
near  the  crowns  of  the  young  plants." 

CRIMSON  CLOVER. 

My  personal  experience  with  crimson  clover  is 
limited  to  two  seasons'  trials.  The  first  trial  was 
not  vSuccessful.  No  doubt  it  is  a  most  valuable 


Soiling  Crops.  165 

plant,  and  that  as  an  autumn  soiling  crop  it  is  most 
desirable.  Besides  its  value  to  the  soiler  as  a  forage 
crop,  it  is  a  most  excellent  crop  to  follow  after  the 
soiling  crops  up  to  the  middle  and  end  of  August, 
both  to  feed  and  to  be  plowed  under  for  a  crop  of 
rye.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  $10  worth  of  crimson 
clover  seed  sown  in  July  will,  under  favorable  con- 
ditions, grow  more  fertilizer  delivered  on  the  spot 
than  can  be  bought  in  any  commercial  form  for 
$100.  The  soiler  soon  learns  to  take  advantage  of 
all  these  things.  It  is  claimed  that  in  warmer 
climates  than  Western  New  York,  it  may  be  sown 
in  the  autumn  for  early  spring  feeding,  and  will  be 
ready  to  cut  earlier  than  red  clover. 

Our  knowledge  of  its  proper  use,  and  the  proper 
way  of  handling  it,  needs  experience,  nothing  more. 
The  following  is  from  "The  Country  Gentleman," 
written  by  Mr.  G.  T.  Powell,  and  gives  such  practi- 
cal and  valuable  information  on  the  subject  as  fol- 
lows: 

CRIMSON  CLOVER — How  TO  USE  IT. 

"There  has  been  much  discussion  over  crimson 
clover,  and  much  condemnation  and  disappointment 
in  its  use  in  the  Northern  States.  That  there  is 
large  value  in  it  is  beyond  all  doubt,  but  the  plant 
must  be  used  right  and  with  knowledge  of  its  re- 
quirements. 

"  There  are  five  known  varieties  of  scarlet  clover 
(Trifolium  incarnatum)  grown  in  Europe.  These 


1 66  Soiling. 

differ  largely  in  their  character  of  growth,  the  fifth 
having  a  white  blossom,  and  makes  but  a  feeble 
growth  in  our  climate.  There  is  an  Egyptian 
clover,  the  seed  of  which  closely  resembles  the  scar- 
let, and  it  will  not  withstand  freezing.  The  seed  is 
imported  and  many  have  doubtless  purchased  it, 
and  failure  following,  crimson  clover  is  condemned. 

"  It  is  an  annual,  grows  best  in  a  cool  season,  and 
should  be  sown  only  for  autumn  growth.  The  ob- 
ject in  growing  this  plant  should  be  to  improve  the 
soil  by  the  nitrogen  that  it  will  gather  from  the 
atmosphere,  to  keep  the  soil  covered,  especially  dur- 
ing the  winter,  save  the  loss  of  nitrate,  and  to  add 
organic  matter  or  humus  so  much  needed  in  the  soil 
of  all  our  older  States. 

"  For  two  years  we  have  had  nearly  seventy  acres 
of  crimson  clover,  with  entire  success.  Ten  pounds 
of  seed  per  acre  will  make  a  heavy  covering.  The 
seed  should  be  put  on  all  cultivated  and  autumn 
gathered  crops.  We  sow  with  buckwheat  freely 
first.  After  the  buckwheat  is  cut  it  grows  until 
winter,  making  an  abundance  of  plant  food  for  oats 
the  following  spring.  In  the  last  cultivation  of  corn 
and  potatoes,  about  July  loth,  the  seed  is  applied 
and  cultivated  in.  Cultivation  in  the  apple,  pear, 
and  cherry  orchards  is  stopped  near  July  i  $th.  Seed 
is  applied  upon  all  these.  Vineyard  culture  ceases 
by  July  2oth,  when  they  are  seeded.  .  .  . 

"  Crimson  clover  should  not  be  sown  in  the  North 
with  the  expectation  of  its  coming  through  the  fol- 
lowing spring,  while  it  will  o  ccasionally,  but  with 


Soiling  Crops.  167 

continued  freezing  and  thawing  it  will  be  largely 
killed.  .  .  . 

The  New  Jersey  Experiment  Station  has  shown 
by  analysis  that  '  a  crop  of  this  clover  six  inches 
high  has  accumulated  nitrogen  per  acre  that  would 
cost  $15  to  buy;  at  thirteen  inches  high,  $25.50  to 
buy  per  acre,  while  at  full  maturity  it  is  worth  $30 
per  acre. ' 

"  The  following  are  some  of  the  points  to  be  kept 
in  mind  in  sowing  crimson  clover  for  the  North :  Get 
home-grown  seed,  not  imported,  sow  early  in  July, 
and  depend  upon  growth  only  up  to  December. 
Sow  only  with  the  object  to  improve  the  soil;  sow  to 
keep  down  weeds,  and  for  a  winter  covering  to  the 
soil.  The  better  the  previous  cultivation,  the 
greater  will  be  the  growth.  It  is  adapted  to  all 
kinds  of  soil,  but  especially  to  sandy  soil.  If  the 
soil  is  rather  poor,  apply  250  Ib.  of  muriate  of  pot- 
ash per  acre  to  give  it  a  more  vigorous  start.  If 
farmers  will  study  this  plant,  and  use  it  judiciously, 
it  will  be  the  cheapest  way  possible  to  build  up  run- 
down land.  Nitrogen,  the  most  expensive  plant 
food,  need  not  be  purchased,  only  potash  and  phos- 
phoric acid  occasionally,  thus  saving  much  of  the 
present  heavy  outlay  for  commercial  fertilizers. 

"  The  possibilities  for  improvement  by  the  use  of 
crimson  clover  are  far  greater  than  farmers  realize. 
It  must  not  be  condemned  on  one  or  two  trials  when 
red  clover  has  failed  in  many  places  for  the  past 
twenty  years." 


1 68  Soiling. 


Delaware  Station,  Third  Annual  Report,  page  151. 

"  An  analysis  to  determine  its  feeding  value  com- 
pared with  wheat  bran.  It  took  5.8  tons  of  crimson 
clover  green  to  make  one  ton  air-dry.  And  one 
ton  air-dry  crimson  clover  gave : 

Crimson  Clover.  Wheat  Bran. 

Crude  fat $6.06  $6.16 

Crude  proteins 5.86  5.48 

Carbohydrates 8.98  8.41 

$20.90  $21.05 

"  Seed :  An  average  of  from  nine  to  ten  bushels 
per  acre  is  not  unusual.  Clover  two  tons  per  acre 
leaves  four  tons  of  roots  in  the  ground." 

Cow  PEAS. 

South  of  the  Mason  and  Dixon  line  the  cow  pea  is 
becoming  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  plants  for  soil- 
ing, and  especially  for  plowing  under  for  green 
manure.  I  have  witnessed  some  of  the  most  mar- 
vellous results  from  plowing  under  a  crop  of  cow 
peas  in  North  Carolina.  I  feel  safe  in  saying  that  it 
is  a  saving  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  in 
commercial  fertilizers  in  that  State  alone ;  and  when 
thoroughly  understood  will  be  an  annual  saving  of 
millions  to  the  Southern  farmer. 

It  grows  even  as  far  north  as  Lake  Ontario.  My 
own  experience  with  it  is  limited  to  two  trials  on  very 
poor,  wornout  land;  and  while  I  was  not  able  to 


Soiling  Crops.  169 

grow  mtich  of  a  crop,  it  probably  did  as  well  as  any- 
thing would  on  that  particular  ground.  Since  visit- 
ing some  enterprising  farmers  in  North  Carolina, 
who  are  large  growers  of  the  plant,  I  am  thoroughly 
convinced  that,  for  the  South  at  least,  there  is  not 
at  hand  another  forage  crop  that  can  be  called  its 
equal.  In  order  to  grow  the  first  crop  on  exhausted 
land,  barnyard  manure  or  commercial  fertilizer 
would  be  a  great  assistance.  The  following  extracts 
in  substance  are  sifted  from  the  Georgia  State  Bul- 
letin, No.  29,  1894: 

"  It  is  really  not  a  pea,  but  a  bean.  Clover  of  the 
South,  king  of  land  renovators.  More  valuable  to 
the  Southerner  than  clover  to  the  Northerner. 
Draws  nitrogen  from  the  atmosphere.  Grows  on 
light  soil. 

Result :  The  best  disposition  of  the  crop  was  to 
convert  the  vines  into  hay  or  ensilage.  There  was 
little  gain  in  plowing  under  the  whole  crop  green, 
or  plowing  under  the  stubble.  That  it  stands  to- 
day at  the  head  of  all  soil  renovators,  at  least  for  the 
South,  is  beyond  question. 

"  Cow  peas  will  grow  on  land  that  is  so  impover- 
ished that  clover  will  not  grow.  It  has  been  proved 
to  do  well  in  the  North,  in  Iowa,  Illinois,  Indiana, 
and  Ohio,  and  in  New  York  and  Connecticut.  A 
crop  of  16,000  Ib.  of  green  vines  per  acre  is  reported 
from  Connecticut.  It  is  certainly  worthy  of  trial  as 
a  renovator,  even  if  the  seed  is  yearly  obtained  from 
the  South.  Best  for  hay  or  soiling  or  ensilage  are 
the  erect  varieties,  Unknown,  Clay,  and  Whippoor- 


170  Soiling. 

will.  Where  a  dense  mass  of  vines  is  wanted  to  re- 
main all  winter  on  the  ground,  Calico,  Gourd,  Black, 
and  Constitution  are  preferable. 

"  The  roots  of  these  plants  penetrate  deep  into  the 
soil,  like  lucern,  drawing  their  food  from  beyond  the 
reach  of  most  other  plants,  keeping  the  soil  porous, 
and  above  all  their  power  to  assimilate  nitrogen,  the 
most  costly  of  all  plant  foods  from  the  atmosphere 
(four-fifths  of  the  weight  of  the  air  is  nitrogen),  not 
through  the  leaves  of  the  plant,  but  through  the 
bacteria  that  have  their  seat  in  the  root  tubercles 
through  which  the  free,  atmospheric  nitrogen  is  as- 
similated. Nor  is  this  all.  The  dense  foliage  pre- 
vents the  soil  from  baking.  The  roots  and  stubble 
alone  of  an  acre  of  average  cow  peas  contain  22.6 
Ib.  of  nitrogen,  5.9  Ib.  phosphoric  acid,  and  14.5  Ib. 
of  potash." 

Two  bushels  per  acre  is  about  the  amount  of 
seed,  usually  sown.  The  beauty  of  this  and  the 
clover  crop  is  that  you  can  take  a  large  crop  from 
the  soil,  and  still  leave  the  soil  in  better  condition 
than  before  the  crop  was  taken. 

SOJA  BEAN. 

Although  known  in  the  Southern  States  for  a  long 
time,  it  has  never  been  fully  appreciated,  but  prom- 
ises to  become  a  great  rival  of  the  cow  pea.  It  pro- 
duces a  great  amount  of  green  forage,  which  seems 
to  cure  easier  than  cow  pea  vines,  and  proves  more 
productive  of  peas.  The  plants  grow  erect  to  the 


Soiling  Crops.  171 

height  of  two  and  one-half  to  four  feet,  compact  and 
not  spreading,  but  branching  freely,  producing  nu- 
merous wooly  pods,  containing  two  to  three  round 
yellow  beans.  It  is  of  as  easy  culture  as  our  cow 
peas,  yielding  a  forage  which  is  greatly  relished  by 
farm  stock,  the  beans  being  rich  in  protein. 

PRICKLY  COMFREY. 

Vermont  Report,  1889,  page  87. 

"  Began  cutting  May  1 6th.  Four  cuttings  during 
the  summer.  First  cutting,  May  i6th,  15.9  tons  per 
acre.  The  other  three  cuttings  averaged  a  little 
over  seven  tons  per  cutting.  Generally  grown  by 
dividing  roots,  leaving  one-half  in  the  ground,  cut- 
ting the  half  taken  out  into  small  pieces.  A  patch 
set  out  in  early  spring  was  ready  for  first  cutting 
May  25th." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
SOILING  SHEEP. 

THE  advantages  of  soiling  sheep  are  becoming 
more  apparent  in  this  country  every  year.  "  The 
flesh  and  wool  of  sheep,"  says  Mr.  Stewart,  "are but 
the  products  of  the  soil,  and  contain  nothing  but 
what  has  existed  in  the  plants  which  the  sheep  have 
consumed."  No  farmer  who  has  ever  bred  sheep 
for  mutton  needs  to  be  told  of  the  necessity  of  sup- 
plying an  abundance  of  succulent  food  for  his  lambs, 
until  they  have  reached  maturity.  A  lamb  that  has 
been  stunted  for  want  of  proper  nourishment  or 
from  sickness  can  never  be  fattened  as  profitably 
as  one  whose  growth  has  never  been  checked.  The 
English  farmers  not  only  know  this,  but  take  every 
precaution  to  prevent  it,  and  to  this  it  is  mainly  due 
that  they  are  enabled  to  export  to  this  country, 
yearly,  many  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  sheep,  while 
American  farmers  might  breed  as  good  at  home  i^ 
they  would  feed  as  well. 

But  in  regard  to  sheep  we  have  yet  much  to  learn. 
I  mean  we  have  to  put  into  practice  what  we  already 
know,  but  for  some  reason  fail  to  appreciate  its  im- 
portance. There  is  not  a  farmer  in  America  who 
will  not  say  that  it  costs  no  more  to  keep  a  good 


Soiling  Sheep.  173 

sheep  than  a  poor  one ;  but  not  one  in  a  hundred 
puts  the  statement  to  proof  in  practice.  The  Eng- 
lish farmer  makes  no  secret  of  how  he  produces  a 
flock  of  sheep  that  average  200  Ib.  each,  and  shear 
from  twelve  to  twenty  pounds  of  beautiful  wool. 
It  is  all  explained  in  the  one  word,  feed.  Not 
grain  so  much  as  a  never-ceasing  supply  of  rich, 
nutritious  forage  which  keeps  the  stock  growing 
constantly  throughout  the  year.  To  accomplish  this 
they  have  adopted  a  regular  system  of  soiling, 
known  as  folding  or  hurdling. 

As  a  general  thing,  the  English  feed  less  grain 
than  we  do.  Again,  it  is  very  important  to  the  wool 
grower  that  his  flock  should  have  an  abundance  of 
food  throughout  the  entire  year.  Whenever  the  pas- 
tures fail,  the  growth  of  wool  is  checked,  and  if  the 
sheep  be  afterward  well  fed,  there  will  be  found  at 
shearing  time  a  weak  place  in  the  wool,  correspond- 
ing to  the  time  in  its  growth  when  the  food  was 
insufficient.  Wool,  like  milk  from  our  cows,  is  pro- 
duced in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  food  consumed 
above  that  required  to  support  life.  Therefore,  the 
want  of  a  proper  amount  of  food  is  first  noticed  in 
the  wool,  and  here  is  where  many  farmers  are  de- 
ceived. Their  sheep  look  to  be  in  passable  condi- 
tion, and  they  are  satisfied;  but  the  sheep  are  not 
growing  a  profitable  amount  of  wool,  as  they  would 
if  supplied  with  all  they  could  eat.  Says  Mr.  Miles, 
"  The  great  development  in  fattening  quality  and 
early  maturity  has  been  secured  by  a  liberal  supply 
of  nutritious  food  during  the  period  of  growth." 


1 74  Soiling. 

Mr.  Youatt,  an  English  author,  says :  "  It  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  the  ewes  should  have  abun- 
dant food,  in  order  to  produce  a  flow  of  nutritious 
milk  while  they  are  suckling,  and  that  the  lambs 
should  have  plenty  of  good  pasture  or  other  succu- 
lent green  food  when  they  are  weaned. " 

Speaking  of  the.  Lincoln  breed  of  sheep,  Mr. 
Stewart  says,  "  In  connection  with  a  system  of  farm- 
ing in  which  heavy  crops  of  roots  and  green  fodder 
were  the  chief  production,  this  improved  breed  be- 
came fixed  in  its  character  as  the  heaviest  producers 
of  wool  and  mutton  in  the  world." 

During  the  early  part  of  the  season,  when  vege- 
tation is  putting  forth  vigorously,  sheep  do  very 
well  in  pasture,  but,  by  the  time  they  have  over- 
come the  effects  of  winter,  the  pasture  begins  to 
fail.  The  ewe  must  eat  to  sustain  herself  and  sup- 
port a  lamb,  often  two ;  at  the  same  time  she  is  also 
expected  to  be  growing  wool  for  the  farmer.  If  she 
is  not  well  provided  with  the  best  of  food  to  produce 
milk,  wool  and  flesh,  the  wool  is  first  affected,  then 
her  offspring  comes  late  to  maturity,  sometimes 
never ;  then  her  own  body  becomes  a  ready  prey  to 
parasites  and  disease,  and  she  goes  into  winter  quar- 
ters poor.  A  few  years  of  such  life  hang  her  hide 
upon  the  fence,  and  give  her  carcass  to  the  crows. 

There  are  many  farmers  keeping  sheep  who  have 
no  interest  in  their  improvement,  for  the  reason  that 
every  two  or  three  years  the  rotation  of  the  fields 
shortens  the  supply  of  pasture,  and  the  flock  goes  to 
the  butcher.  They  pick  up  a  few  culls  after  a  year, 


Soiling  Sheep.  175 

and  begin  another  flock,  which  in  turn  follows  the 
course  of  the  first.  The  farmer  has  no  object  in 
selecting  a  good  sire  as  a  means  of  improving,  be- 
cause he  doesn't  know  but  what  he  will  have  to  dis- 
pose of  his  flock  another  year,  if  he  should  be  likely 
to  lose  a  seeding,  or  be  short  of  pasture. 

There  is  probably  no  source  of  easier  profit  on  the 
farm  than  a  flock  of  well-cared-for  sheep.  Manure 
made  from  them  is  richer  in  nitrogen  and  potash 
than  from  any  other  animal,  not  excepting  the  hog 
and  the  hen.  Their  wool  and  lambs  are  in  the 
market  just  when  the  farmer  has  the  least  to  sell ; 
they  require  little  care  compared  with  cows  and 
horses,  and  increase  more  rapidly.  In  fact,  to  de- 
prive a  farm  of  a  flock  of  good  sheep  is  to  rob  it  of 
one  of  its  most  pleasing  and  profitable  attractions. 
There  is  a  way  in  which  they  may  be  supplied  with 
food,  rich  and  succulent,  when  they  most  require  it ; 
a  way  in  which  the  lambs  may  be  made  to  grow  con- 
tinually from  birth,  and  be  early  brought  to  full  ma- 
turity ;  a  way  in  which  the  farmer  can  produce  the 
greatest  amount  of  wool  superior  in  quality,  manure 
unequalled  in  value,  and  make  himself  the  possessor 
of  a  beautiful  flock  of  sheep,  and  that  is  by  soiling. 

I  never  regretted  parting  with  any  farm  animals 
as  I  did  with  my  flock  of  sheep.  Nothing  I  ever 
grew  afforded  me  the  pleasure  or  profit,  nothing  I 
ever  undertook  to  improve  by  careful  breeding  and 
feeding  responded  so  quickly  and  well.  My  success 
as  an  exhibitor  with  both  horses  and  cattle  is  owing 
principally  to  soiling.  It  is  a  question  if  ever  a 


176  Soiling. 

flock  was  more  improved  in  the  same  length  of 
time.  In  1875  I  made  my  first  exhibit  outside  of 
country  fairs,  at  the  New  York  State  Fair,  at 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  came  home  with  a  second 
prize  on  a  ram  lamb.  Three  years  later  the  flock 
came  home  with  the  Sweepstakes  Flock  medal,  won 
in  competition  with  the  three  best  flocks  of  Cots  wolds 
in  this  country.  Afterward  during  five  or  six  years 
they  never  failed  to  bring  home  the  largest  share  of 
the  prize  cards. 

The  Cotswold,  like  all  families  of  large-bodied, 
long  and  medium  wooled  sheep  were  originated  in 
England,  where  the  climate  is  cooler,  and  where 
they  are  soiled  on  vetches  and  rape  summers,  and 
turnips  during  autumn  and  winter,  until  rape  and 
vetches  come  again.  So  that  'they  have  come  up 
with  habits  of  idleness  in  comparison  with  our 
American  merino  and  ordinary  grades,  which  are 
content  to  grub  all  day  on  scanty  pastures.  By 
soiling,  the  English  breeders  have  been  able  to  sup- 
ply their  sheep  daily,  from  birth  to  maturity,  with 
more  forage  than  they  could  possibly  devour. 
Americans  fail  to  get  the  same  results  from  English- 
bred  sheep,  simply  because  they  are  not  as  good 
feeders.  When  we  get  them  to  the  States,  we  turn 
them  to  pasture,  and  they  get  on  fairly  well  until 
June,  when  they  prefer  to  lie  in  the  shade  than  to 
seeking  their  food  in  the  hot  sun.  Cotswolds,  Lin- 
coins,  and  Leicesters,  and  the  Downs  as  well,  except- 
ing possibly  the  Southdown,  will  not  work  all  day 
as  they  must  at  pasture,  to  produce  the  best  results. 


Soiling  Sheep.  177 

Therefore,  to  make  them  do  their  best  in  this  coun- 
try, or  to  equal  English-grown  sheep  that  are  kept 
feeding  all  the  time,  some  way  must  he  provided  to 
accomplish  the  same  end.  We  must  remember  that 
feed  is  mightier  than  breed.  In  fact,  feed  has  been 
the  making  of  breeds.  Feed  is,  at  least,  the  founda- 
tion of  all  modern  breeds.  Select  animals  from  the 
choicest  prize-winning  flocks,  the  best  in  England 
or  America,  and  neglect  to  feed  them,  and  they  soon 
degenerate  into  an  ordinary  race  from  whence  they 
originally  came.  Selecting  and  coupling  help  to  fix 
type,  but  food  makes  the  breed.  When  a  sheep 
breeder  in  America  will  make  his  sheep  eat  as  much 
as  an  English  shepherd,  then  he  can  grow  in  Ameri- 
ca as  good  specimens  as  they  grow  in  England. 

After  meeting  my  Waterloo  in  the  show  ring  at 
the  State  fair,  as  already  referred  to,  and  not  being 
sufficiently  forehanded  to  buy  a  lot  of  imported 
sheep,  as  was  the  yearly  custom  of  my  principal 
competitors,  I  was  either  obliged  to  give  up  show- 
ing or  take  a  back  seat  or  reach  for  the  prize  in 
some  other  way.  It  so  happened  that  my  sheep  were 
pastured  the  next  year  in  a  field  adjoining  the  barn, 
and  they  were  allowed  the  freedom  of  their  winter 
quarters,  where  they  were  obliged  to  come  and 
drink,  and,  as  may  be  imagined,  during  the  hot 
weather  they  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  day  in 
this  shed  or  under  the  shade  of  a  board  fence.  In 
bringing  in  the  soiling  crops  for  the  cows,  the  wagon 
passed  the  sheep  shed,  and  as  there  was  never  in  my 
estimation  anything  too  good  for  my  Cotswold  ewes 
12 


178  Soiling. 

(even  if  they  were  not  good  enough  to  win  at  the 
New  York  State  Fair)  there  were  always  a  few  fork- 
fuls thrown  into  their  winter  racks  in  passing.  The 
sheep  were  delighted.  The  lambs  grew  as  I  never 
had  lambs  grow  before.  It  was  not  uncommon  to 
have  them  weigh  100  Ib.  at  three  months  old,  a  gain 
of  a  pound  a  day  for  every  day  they  were  old.  Of 
course,  they  had  a  lamb  creep,  as  shown  on  page  183, 
where  they  could  run  into  a  separate  pen  and  help 
themselves  to  bran  with  a  little  oil-cake  meal  in  it. 
Later  in  the  season  a  little  cracked  corn  was  added. 
I  never  had  my  ewes  look  as  well  or  give  as  much 
milk;  and  when  we  came  to  shear  them  and  their 
lambs  the  next  season,  the  increase  was  twenty-five 
to  thirty-five  per  cent.  Thus  I  unintentionally 
worked  into  the  soiling  of  my  sheep.  The  second 
year  soiling  was  begun  earlier  and  continued  later. 
My  sales  of  rams  increased  beyond  all  expectation, 
and  the  third  year  a  rough  board  shed  was  built  with 
a  rough  board  roof,  and  soiling  crops  were  put  in 
especially  for  the  sheep,  as  hereafter  explained ;  and 
that  fall,  as  before  stated,  the  flock  won  the  Gold 
Medal  Flock  prize  with  American-bred  ewes  and 
lambs  against  the  best  flocks  in  the  State,  which 
this  would  never  have  been  accomplished  except  for 
soiling.  When  in  England  in  1890  for  the  first  time, 
I  saw  how  sheep  were  universally  soiled,  and  how  it 
was  that  Americans  have  been  obliged  to  keep  going 
there  for  show  sheep.  It  was  also  apparent  how  it 
had  been  possible  for  English  breeders  to  produce 
such  grand  specimens  as  are  found  in  the  several 


Soiling  Sheep.  179 

long  and  medium  wooled  families  of  that  celebrated 
sheep  country.  These  sheep  were  by  education  un- 
adapted  to  our  general  method  of  pasturing.  They 
are  too  large  and  too  much  affected  by  the  sun  to 
work  as  most  American  pastured  sheep  are  obliged 
to,  and  as  only  an  American  merino  is  willing  to  do 
over  scanty  pasture.  There  is,  I  believe,  but  one 
way  to  treat  the  English  families  of  sheep  to  make 
them  equal  to  English-bred  and  English-fed  sheep, 
and  that  is  to  soil  them. 

RESULTS. 

From  1877  to  1883  my  Cotswold  flock  won  over 
$1,000  in  premiums,  besides  several  gold  medals, 
flock  prizes. 

The  following  table  of  comparison  of  the  amount 
of  wool  taken  from  the  same  sheep  following  a  year 
at  pasture  and  after  two  years  of  soiling  shows  the 
effect  of  their  having  an  abundance  of  food  during 
the  entire  year,  so  that  there  was  no  check  in  the 
growth  of  wool : 

1878,  thirty  head  of  sheep  pastured  year  before 280  pounds, 

1879,  twenty-eight  head  of  sheep  partially  soiled  year 

before 330       " 

1880,  thirty-seven  head  of  sheep  principally  soiled  year 

before 550      " 

Those  clipped  in  1880  were  wintered  mostly  on 
silage  and  bean  fodder.  In  every  other  respect 
they  were  cared  for  as  in  the  previous  years.  It 


1 80  Soiling. 

will  be  noticed  that  the  last  clipping  for  1885  aver- 
aged nearly  fifteen  pounds  per  head  for  the  entire 
flock;  the  shearling  ewes  averaged  over  sixteen 
pounds. 

My  lambs,  during  the  years  1880  and  1881,  were 
weaned  July  ist,  and  at  the  average  age  of  four 
months,  the  average  weight  was  a  trifle  over  ninety- 
one  pounds,  many  of  the  single  lambs  weighing  a 
pound  or  nearly  so  for  every  day  they  were  old. 
As  many  of  them  were  twins,  the  average  was  re- 
duced. The  above  results  I  have  never  known  to 
be  equalled  by  any  flock  of  Cotswolds,  or  any  other 
breeds  of  sheep  in  America.  The  secret  of  my  suc- 
cess was  keeping  the  sheep  eating,  and  giving  them 
a  shady  place  to  eat  in.  The  extra  labor  was  re- 
turned several  times  over.  I  give  soiling  the  credit 
for  these  results. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
SOILING  CROPS  FOB  SHEEP. 

IN  selecting  crops  for  sheep,  the  most  prominent 
are  tares  (vetches),  rape,  turnips,  lucern  and  clover 
(early  cut),  oats  and  peas.  Of  these,  rape  and 
vetches  are  decidedly  the  best. 

VETCHES  (TARES). 

Spring  and  winter  tares  are  largely  sown  in  Eng- 
land for  soiling  sheep,  cattle,  and  horses.  All  stock 
are  exceedingly  fond  of  them.  My  experience  in 
feeding  them  is  very  satisfactory.  I  have  never 
undertaken  to  cultivate  the  winter  variety.  Spring 
tares  are  usually  sown  in  March  or  April.  They 
are  very  much  like  the  common  field  pea,  except 
that  the  stalks  and  leaves  are  finer,  a  vigorously 
growing  plant,  highly  relished  by  sheep  and  lambs. 
The  blossom  and  pod  are  similar  to  those  of  the  pea. 
A  small  quantity  of  oats,  barley,  or  rye  should  be 
sown  with  them  as  a  support,  otherwise  they  are  apt 
to  lodge,  which  materially  lessens  their  value.  They 
may  be  sown  with  a  grain  drill  or -broadcast. 

An  English  writer  says :  "  Sheep  may  be  fattened 
upon  them,  the  milk  of  cows  is  enriched  and  in- 


1 82  Soiling. 

creased  by  them,  and  they  are  extensively  employed 
in  feeding  horses.     They  do  not  require  a  rich  soil. " 
Sow  same  as  field  peas,  two  bushels  per  acre  in  a 
grain  drill  with  one  bushel  of  oats. 


RAPE. 

Rape  may  be  called  a  turnip  which  has  all  grown 
to  leaves.  It  looks  and  tastes  like  turnip  tops,  but 
has  roots  similar  to  those  of  grain  and  grasses.  The 
seeds  also  look  like  those  of  the  turnip.  It  grows 
from  ten  to  fifteen  inches  high.  It  is  a  most  nutri- 
tious forage  plant,  and  is  equalled  by  no  other  vege- 
table, as  may  be  seen  by  the  foregoing  tables.  Its 
culture  is  similar  to  that  of  the  turnip,  and  will  sus- 
tain about  the  same  number  of  animals  per  acre, 
and  may  be  sown  later  in  the  season.  As  a  food  for 
young  lambs  it  has  no  superior.  It  was  my  custom 
to  sow  a  small  patch  in  the  corner  of  the  pasture  or 
in  an  adjoining  field  to  the  place  where  the  ewes  are 
confined,  with  a  lamb  creep — a  hole  in  the  fence 
large  enough  to  admit  a  lamb  but  to  exclude  a 
sheep,  with  a  roller  at  the  top  and  sides  to  prevent 
tearing  the  wool,  as  shown  in  the  following  illustra- 
tion. 

The  lambs  will  soon  learn  to  run  in  and  feed,  as 
they  are  exceedingly  fond  of  the  plant.  It  requires 
about  two  pecks  of  the  seed  per  acre,  which  should 
be  sown  in  July  for  fall  feeding.  If  intended  to  be 
fed  to  grown  sheep,  it  should  be  cut  and  fed  to  them 


Soiling  Crops  for  Sheep.  183 

In  racks .  otherwise  fhey  destroy  much  of  it.  Lambs 
may  be  allowed  to  pasture  upon  it,  as  they  are  light 
in  weight,  and,  if  unaccompanied  by  their  dams, 
only  stay  in  the  enclosure  while  feeding.  The  high 
feeding  value  of  this  plant  strongly  recommends 
it  to  farmers  raising  early  market  lambs.  For  this 
purpose  it  should  be  sown  earlier. 

I  began  growing  rape  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr. 


Creep. 


John  Ross,  of  Jarvis,  Ont.,  a  noted  Cotswold 
breeder  in  his  day,  with  the  result  that  I  never  have 
found  any  forage  so  satisfactory  for  forcing  lambs, 
or  so  good  for  age  ewes  and  fattening  store  sheep, 
or  in  putting  the  finishing  touches  to  the  animals 
selected  to  lift  the  prize  cards  at  the  autumn  fairs. 

I  usually  obtained  the  seed  from  Canada,  where 
rape  is  used  more  extensively  than  in  the  States. 
The  chances  for  getting  good,  fresh  seed  there  are 
better,  therefore,  than  in  the  States. 


1 84  Soiling. 

The  principal  requirement  is  to  have  a  thoroughly 
pulverized  seed-bed,  and  to  sow  in  drills  with  a  hand 
seeder  twenty  inches  apart,  and  cultivated  two  or 
three  times  with  a  horse  hoe  between  rows ;  and  if 
ground  is  weedy,  use  a  garden  hand- wheel  hoe  once 
or  twice  on  the  rows. 

For  a  general  fall  crop,  sow  broadcast  just  after 
the  last  cultivating  among  the  ensilage  corn,  the 
same  as  you  would  flat  turnips,  and  by  the  time  that 
the  summer  feeding  is  over,  you  will  have  a  grand 
crop  for  September  and  October,  either  to  soil  from 
or  to  turn  the  sheep  on. 

Rape  is  the  best  possible  green  forage  to  have  on 
hand  at  time  of  weaning  the  lambs,  so  that  they  will 
not  go  backwards.  Lambs  may  be  taken  from  the 
ewes  earlier,  if  rape  is  at  hand,  than  without  it, 
giving  the  ewes  more  time  to  recuperate,  there- 
fore, coming  sooner  and  in  better  condition  to  the 
coupling  season.  There  is  nothing  like  a  field  of 
rape  to  put  ewes  in  the  finest  possible  condition  for 
going  into  winter  quarters;  and  if  grown  on  the 
ensilage  ground  without  cultivating,  is  most  econ- 
omical, and  will  do  what  would  require  a  very  liberal 
grain  feeding  to  equal. 

As  rape  is  a  crop  not  generally  known  in  the 
States,  the  following  quotations  are  given,  which 
confirm  all  I  have  said  in  its  favor  and  more : 

United  States  Bulletin,  n. 

"There  is  still  a  season  after  the  corn  has  been 
harvested  and  before  the  setting  in  of  winter,  dur- 


Soiling   Crops  for  Sheep.          185 

ing  which  we  must  depend  solely  upon  grass  as  a 
source  of  food  for  our  flocks  and  herds,  otherwise 
we  must  draw  on  our  winter  stores  to  feed  them. 
"  The  Dwarf  Essex  rape  is  a  plant  which  can  be 


Rape  Plant,  showing  growth  of  two  months  on  station  farm,  July  to 
August,  1894. 

easily  grown  in  many  portions  of  the  United  States, 
and  which  will  furnish  abundant  supplies  of  succu- 


1 86  Soiling. 

lent,  rich  and  nutritious  pasture  at  a  season  of  the 
year  when  most  needed.  The  rape  plant  grows 
slowly  at  first,  but  after  a  time  pushes  ahead  rapidly. 
Where  the  conditions  are  suitable,  an  average  crop 
grown  in  drills  should  furnish  not  less  than  ten  tons 
per  acre,  and  when  the  conditions  are  all  favorable, 
it  should  be  quite  possible  to  produce  at  least  twenty 
tons  of  green  fodder  per  acre.  A  large  percentage 
of  Canadian  lambs  shipped  during  the  more  recent 
years  to  Buffalo  market  from  Canada  have  been  fin- 
ished on  rape.  Larger  crops  can  be  obtained  from 
rape  sown  in  drills  rather  than  broadcast. 

"  Salt  is  a  valuable  fertilizer  for  rape  on  certain 
soils.  In  some  seasons  a  good  crop  of  rape  can  be 
grown  after  a  crop  of  winter  wheat  has  been  re- 
moved. We  found  that  one  acre  of  rape  would  pas- 
ture thirty-six  to  thirty-seven  head  of  lambs  for  two 
months.  It  would  probably  be  correct  to  say  that 
rape  will  grow  in  fine  form  in  any  soil  that  will  pro- 
duce an  abundant  crop  of  turnips  or  Indian  corn. 
Rape  calls  for  fine  pulverization  of  surface  soil  free 
from  undecayed  vegetable  matter.  Rape  responds 
vigorously  to  the  application  of  barnyard  manure. 
Rape  is  a  gross  feeding  plant ;  therefore,  has  much 
power  to  gather  plant  food  in  the  soil. 

"Rape  is  unrivalled  as  a  pasture  for  sheep  in 
autumn.  As  a  fattening  food  in  the  field,  it  is  with- 
out a  rival  in  point  of  cheapness  or  effectiveness. 
It  does  not  detract  from  the  fertility  when  the  sheep 
which  eat  it  off  are  inclosed  upon  it." 


Soiling  Crops  for  Sheep.          187 


TURNIPS. 

The  tnrnip  in  England  has  become  a  regular  rota- 
tion crop,  and  takes  the  place  of  corn  in  this  coun- 
try, i.e.,  first  turnips,  second  barley,  third  wheat, 
fourth  grass  or  pasture.  The  varieties  mostly  used 
for  feeding  stock  are  the  White  Norfolk,  Yellow 
Aberdeen,  Swedish,  and  Dale's  Hybrid,  "which 
latter  is  a  hardy,  succulent  vegetable,  much  relished 
by  stock,  and  in  no  respect  injured  by  the  severest 
winter."  It  is  sometimes  sown  broadcast,  but  is 
found  to  pay  better  when  sown  in  drills  and  culti- 
vated. Turnips  may  be  sown  from  the  last  of  May 
till  the  second  week  in  July. 

These  are  the  principal  soiling  crops  for  sheep,  in 
connection  with  the  other  forage  crops  which  have 
been  considered  under  the  general  head  of  soiling 
crops,  especially  oats  and  peas,  lucern,  vetches  or 
tares. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
PORTABLE  FENCING. 

THE  woven  galvanized  wire  fencing,  supported  by 
stakes  driven  into  the  ground  every  ten  feet,  makes 
one  of  the  most  convenient  and  easily  handled  of  all 


portable  fencing  for  sheep.  Three  or  three  and 
one-half  feet  will  be  found  high  enough.  One  man 
can  handle  a  roll  of  300  feet.  (See  cut.) 

If  it  is  desirable  to  have  a  portable  fence,  the  fol- 
lowing can  be  recommended:  The  battens  at  the 
ends  are  nailed  on  opposite  sides  of  each  panel.  The 
panels  are  held  or  locked  together  by  a  ^-inch  steel 
or  iron  rod,  bent  as  shown.  To  erect  the  fence,  one 
panel  is  set  up  end  to  end  of  another,  the  steel  rod  is 
hooked  onto  the  second  board  from  the  top  of  each 
panel.  Thepanel  last  set  up  is  then  swung  to  the  left 
or  right,  as  the  case  may  be,  until  the  iron  rod  brings 
the  two  ends  tight  together.  The  next  panel  is  put  up 


Portable   Fencing. 


with  the  rod  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  panel, 
and  is  swung  in  the  op- 
posite direction.  This 
makes  a  slightly  zigzag 
fence,  just  enough  so 
that  each  panel  braces 
the  other.  Every  tenth 
panel  has  six  6-inch 
blocks  bolted  on  to  it, 
two  at  each  end  and 
two  in  the  middle. 
These  blocks  are  to 
answer  the  purpose  of 
runners  to  move  the 
fence.  The  panel  with 
the  block  on  is  first  laid 
upon  the  ground;  on 
that  the  other  nine  pan- 
els are  laid.  A  horse  is 
hitched  to  the  bottom 
one,  and  the  ten  panels 
are  sledded  along,  and 
set  up  wherever  want- 
ed. There  is  now  on 
my  farm  a  hundred 
such  panels  that  were 
made  in  1885.  The 
hurdles  are  made  twelve 
feet  long,  the  three  up- 
per boards,  1X4  inches, 


190  Soiling. 

are  from  sixteen -foot  boards.  The  six  feet  sawed 
from  them  makes  the  two  battens.  The  bottom  board 
is  six  inches  wide,  and  bought  in  twelve-foot  lengths. 
The  end  battens  are  allowed  to  project  three  inches 
below  the  bottom  board,  so  that  the  bottom  boards 
do  not  rest  on  the  ground;  the  panels,  therefore, 
adapt  themselves  better  to  an  uneven  surface. 

FEEDING  RACKS. 

A  movable  feeding  rack  is  a  most  convenient 
thing,  when  it  is  desirable  to  feed  soiling  crops  over 
the  fence.  It  is  equally  serviceable  as  a  winter  rack. 
The  roof  projects  over  the  sheep,  affording  some 
shade.  This  is  a  very  essential  addition  to  such  a 
rack  for  summer  feeding.  The  roof  is  made  of  clap- 
boards or  novelty  siding.  There  is  a  ring  for  a 
clevis  in  either  end,  to  which  a  horse  may  be  at- 
tached, to  draw  it  from  place  to  place,  or  to  move  it 
along  the  fence  as  the  cutting  of  the  soiling  crop  on 
the  opposite  side  requires,  so  that  a  forkful  may  be 
delivered  into  the  rack  from  over  the  fence.  These 
racks  are  ten  feet  long,  and  cost  about  $10  to  make 
with  turned  slats.  (See  pages  192  and  193.) 


CHAPTER   XVII. 
MANNER  OF  SOILING  SHEEP. 

LAYING  OUT  THE  WORK. 

WE  will  consider  briefly  the  methods  adopted  for 
feeding  sheep  by  the  soiling"  system.  If  moved 
about  from  field  to  field  by  the  rotation  of  crops, 
they  may  be  supplied  with  any  of  the  soiling  crops 
just  mentioned,  by  fencing  off  a  portion  of  the  field 
in  which  they  are  pastured,  and  devoting  that  por- 
tion to  the  growth  of  soiling  crops ;  or  a  small  por- 
tion of  an  adjoining  field  may  be  used  for  that  pur- 
pose. In  either  case  the  several  crops  should  be  sown 
or  planted  in  rows  parallel  with  the  division  fence, 
the  crop  for  the  first  feeding  being  nearest  the 
fence.  A  movable  rack  (see  cut)  in  the  pasture  will 
serve  to  hold  the  feed  as  it  is  cut. 

Each  seeding  is  intended  to  supply  food  for  one 
month,  beginning  about  the  ist  of  July  on  the  first 
sowing,  cutting  with  scythe  or  cradle,  and  throw- 
ing the  cutting  over  the  fence  into  the  rack.  By 
the  time  the  first  sowing  is  consumed,  the  second 
should  be  ready  for  cutting,  which  may  be  done  in 
a  direction  opposite  to  that  of  the  first  cutting,  fol- 
lowing back  with  the  rack.  The  first  crop  next  to 
the  dividing  fence  may  be  oats  and  peas  (one  bushel 


192 


Soiling. 


Manner  of  Soiling  Sheep.          193 

of  oats,  two  of  peas  or  vetches) ,  the  second,  third, 
and  fourth,  rape.  After  the  first  and  second  sow- 
ings have  been  cut,  the  ground  which  was  occupied 


SecNorvof  Sh«pracK. 


Settle* 


by  them  may  be  top-dressed  and  cultivated  in,-  or 
plowed  shallow,  and  sown  to  rape  for  late  fall 
feeding. 

In  estimating  the  amount  of  ground  necessary  to 
supply  a  flock  with  forage,  we  apply  the  same  rule 
as  given  for  calculating  the  amount  required  to  sup- 


1 94  Soiling 

ply  1,000  Ib.  (or  a  full-grown  cow).  Thus,  sheep 
averaging  100  Ib.  would  require  each  one-tenth  of 
that  necessary  for  a  cow,  or,  of  oats  and  peas,  one- 
tenth  of  three-fourths  square  rod  per  day.  This 
estimate  for  sheep  in  the  plan  of  feeding  above  de- 
scribed may  be  reduced  to  at  least  half  a  square  rod 
per  day  for  every  1,000  Ib.,  as  the  sheep  will  obtain 
part  of  their  feed  from  the  pasture;  but  this  part 
will,  of  course,  depend  upon  the  size  of  the  pasture 
and  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  My  own  experience  in 
soiling  in  this  manner  was  in  an  old  orchard  con- 
taining five  acres,  one  acre  of  which  was  fenced 
off  as  above  described.  This  four  acres  of  pasture 
and  one  devoted  to  soiling  crops  kept  twenty-four 
head  of  large,  long-wooled  sheep,  and  twenty-two 
lambs  (fully  equal  to  five  head  of  1,000  Ib.  each) 
during  the  season.  This  leads  to  me  to  say  that, 
as  a  rule,  for  every  1,000  Ib.  it  will  require  one 
acre  of  land,  one-fifth  of  which  should  be  devoted 
to  soiling  crops.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  five 
acres,  with  one  devoted  to  soiling  crops,  were  equal 
to  ten  pastured,  or  that  one  acre  soiled  is  equal  to 
five  pastured.  The  variety  of  the  feed  and  the 
shade  made  the  sheep  contented,  and,  better  still, 
they  had  all  they  could  or  would  eat. 

PERMANENT  PASTURE. 

Another  method  of  feeding  is  practised  to  some 
extent  in  this  country,  i.e.,  soiling  the  sheep  in  con- 
nection with  a  permanent  pasture.  One  acre  of 


Manner  of  Soiling  Sheep.          195 

permanent  sheep  pasture  is/  generally  speaking, 
worth  two  or  three  acres  of  new  seeding. 

The  plan  is  to  have  a  field  properly  located  and 
laid  down  to  a  large  variety  of  grasses,  some  early, 
some  medium,  and  some  late  in  coming  to  maturity, 
some  that  grow  thickly  making  a  compact  sward, 
others  that  send  down  long  tap  roots  to  enable  them 
to  withstand  drought.  The  following  varieties  are 
none  too  many  and  make  a  most  valuable  succession, 
and  if  once  well  established  become  a  source  of  much 
greater  profit  than  the  ordinary  seedings  that  follow 
a  rotation  of  crops. 

The  following-named  varieties  and  date  of  matur- 
ity make  a  splendid  combination.  The  amount  in 
pounds  are  the  proportion  of  seed  for  one  acre : 

Varieties  of  Grass.  When  Flowering.  pef  Acfe 

Sweet  scented  vernal April  and  May 4 

Orchard  grass April  and  May 6 

Sheep's  fescue May  and  June 3 

Kentucky  blue  grass May  and  June 4 

Indian  rye  grass June    4 

Red  top June  and  July 4 

Timothy June  and  July 4 

English  rye  grass July  and  August 6 

White  clover May  to  September 5 

Total  number  of  pounds  per  acre 40 

The  seeds  for  an  acre  will  cost  $7  to  $10,  but  when 
a  pasture  of  this  kind  is  once  established,  the  differ- 
ence in  the  first  cost  is  normally  nothing.  There 
should  be  a  very  thorough  preparation  of  the  soil, 


196 


Soiling. 


even  if  it  takes  three  years,  as  it  did  in  my  experi- 
ence, to  get  the  field  in  suitable  condition.  The 
land  should  be  as  rich  and  free  from  weeds  as  pos- 
sible, using  either  green  manure  or  thoroughly  rotted 
barnyard  manure  to  reduce  the  introduction  of  foul 
seeds  to  the  least  possible  amount. 


FEEDING. 

With  such  a  permanent  pasture  the  method  of 
growing  soiling  crops  for  sheep  may  be  illustrated 
as  follows : 

F,  L,  R,  comprise  the  permanent  pasture  or  the 
feeding  shed.  L  and  R  show  how  rams  and  ewe 


lambs  may  be  separated  from  the  floor  by  portable 
fencing,  under  the  enclosure,  so  that  they  may  also 
be  fed  on  green  forage  in  a  portion  of  the  shed. 

The  following  illustrates  the  feeding  shed,  which, 
in  my  case,  was  made  of  rough  boards  and  the  roof 
was  of  rough  pine. 


Manner  of  Soiling  Sheep.          197 

This  shed  stands  on  ground  devoted  to  soiling 
crops  fencing  the  permanent  pasture,  so  that  the 
shepherd  or  soiler  may  drive  on  the  three  sides  of  the 


building,  putting  the  feed  through  into  racks  from 
the  wagon,  as  shown,  without  disturbing  or  going 
among  the  sheep.  There  are  no  gates  to  open. 

A  patch  of  rape  may  be  sown  and  fenced  off  in  the 
field  devoted  to  soiling  crops  for  the  lambs,  giving 
them  access  to  it  by  means  of  a  lamb  creep,  as 
already  shown,  page  183,  or  in  any  other  fields  ad- 
joining the  permanent  pasture  that  may  happen  to 
be  under  cultivation. 

A  portion  of  the  shed  may  also  be  partitioned  off 
for  the  lambs,  where  they  can  help  themselves  to 
bran  and  crushed  oats  and  oil  cake  at  will.  They 
will  not  injure  themselves  by  over-eating  if  they 
run  that  way.  They  also  enter  this  enclosure  by  the 
lamb  creep. 

This  method  was  adopted  at  Maple  Lane  with 
great  success.  This  system  replaced  the  movable 
rack  already  referred  to.  I  liked  it  better  because 
the  sheep  liked  it  better ;  it  afforded  better  shade. 


1 98  Soiling. 

The  sheep  remained  in  this  enclosure  the  greater 
part  of  the  day,  and,  of  course,  ate  a  great  deal 
more  than  in  a  field  where,  in  warm  weather,  no 
matter  how  tempting  the  pasture,  they  spent  most 
of  their  time  lying  tinder  the  fence. 

Of  course  the  sheep  must  be  supplied  with  water 
and  salt.  The  idea  that  sheep  do  not  require  water 
is  only  an  excuse  for  not  supplying  it.  A  sheep 
never  cares  to  drink  much  at  a  time,  but  likes  a  sip 
quite  often.  I  have  always  found  it  more  profitable 
to  indulge  the  wants  of  my  stock  than  my  own. 

The  feeding  racks  are  filled  three  times  a  day, 
morning,  noon,  and  night,  and  this  may  be  done  by 
a  boy.  No  more  should  be  fed  at  a  time  than  the 
sheep  will  eat,  and,  should  there  be  any  left  in  the 
racks,  it  should  be  removed  before  fresh  feed  is 
added.  The  shepherd  will  soon  learn  the  wants  of 
his  flock.  Another  method  of  feeding  is  that  of 
folding  the  sheep  upon  the  soiling  crops  instead  of 
cutting  them.  Formerly  (in  England)  this  was  the 
practice,  but  lately  they  have  more  generally 
adopted  the  practice  of  cutting  and  feeding  in  racks. 

ROTATION  OF  CROPS. 

When  a  rotation  of  crops  is  considered  profitable, 
the  following  arrangement  might  be  suggested: 

a,  Represents  the  feeding  shed;  i,  2,  3,  4,  four 
fields  of  enclosure  in  one  field. 

Starting  with  fields  No.  i  and  2  as  pasture  lots, 
No.  3  is  devoted  to  soiling  crops,  and  No.  4  to 


Manner  of  Soiling  Sheep.          199 


roots  or  rape,  No.  3  being  seeded  to  grass  with  rye 
in  the  fall.  The  next  season  plow  No.  i  for  rape, 
having  been  plowed  shallow  the  fall  before.  No.  4 


3 


is  now  devoted  to  soiling  crops  and  No.  2  and  3  to 
pasture,  and  so  on  in  succession  around  the  house. 
This  plan  would  possibly  require  more  land  than  the 
other,  but  it  might  be  found  to  work  to  even  better 
advantage. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 
SOILING  HORSES. 

BROOD  MARES  AND  COLTS. 

AFTER  leaving  the  Maple  Lane  farm  in  1883,  and 
where  the  operations  in  soiling  and  ensilage  began, 
and  were  recorded  in  the  first  volume  of  this  work, 
published  in  the  winter  of  1880  and  1881,  we  moved 
to  Livingston  County,  N.  Y. ,  where  on  the  "  Murray 
Hill "  Farm  the  soiling  system  summer  and  winter 
was  practised,  with  thirty-six  head  of  Jersey  cattle 
and  forty-two  head  of  Cotswold  sheep.  To  this  stock 
fourteen  brood  mares  and  twelve  colts  were  put  on  a 
strict  soiling  system,  while  the  five  stallions  in  the 
stud  came  in  for  no  small  share.  Two  two-year-olds 
were  fed  on  soiling  crops  almost  entirely,  while  the 
three  stallions  in  the  stud  were  put  on  soiling  crops 
after  the  spring  breeding  season  was  over,  so  that 
with  cattle,  horses,  brood  mares,  and  colts,  and 
sheep,  to  say  nothing  of  the  swine,  we  were  soiling 
all  told  at  least  sixty  head  of  full-grown  stock,  -not 
counting  in  the  stallions. 

The  forage  for  these  sixty  head,  counting  pasture, 
hay,  silage,  and  soiling  crops,  was  sixty-nine  acres  of 
land  the  first  year.  We  remained  on  the  "  Murray 
Hill "  Farm  only  three  years,  when  the  cattle  and 


Soiling  Horses.  2OI 

sheep  were  sold,  and  the  horse  business  was  carried 
on  alone  on  "  Squawkie  Hill,"  where,  at  one  time, 
we  had  between  thirty  and  forty  head  of  brood  mares 
and  colts  that  were  always  supplied,  more  or  less, 
with  soiling  crops  during  the  summer.  For  brood 
mares  with  foal  at  foot,  oats  and  peas  make  a  grand 
feed.  There  is  nothing,  however,  that  seems  better 
suited  to  horses  than  lucern,  where  land  is  adapted 
to  its  growth. 

The  horses,  like  the  cows,  were  always  fed  soiling 
crops  in  their  stall  daytimes,  and  turned  out  nights ; 
and  any  one  who  wishes  to  raise  a  thrifty  colt,  and 
keep  the  mother  in  reasonably  good  condition,  can 
be  assured  that  soiling  is  the  best  and  most  econ- 
omical way  to  accomplish  that  end.  My  success  in 
the  show  ring  with  horses  as  well  as  cattle  was 
owing  largely  to  soiling.  The  following  is  a  clipping 
from  the  "  Live  Stock  Journal " : 

"  This  class  of  stock  (horses)  is  thought  by  many 
to  be  unadapted  to  the  soiling  system,  especially 
colts,  as  they  require  exercise  to  develop  the  muscu- 
lar power,  and  soiling  is  thought  to  require  too  close 
confinement.  This  arises  from  misconception  of  the 
flexibility  of  the  system.  Soiling  does  not  neces- 
sarily require  the  confinement  of  animals  any  more 
than  pasturing.  It  is  true  that  pasturing  furnishes 
larger  fields  to  range  in,  but  nearly  every  farmer 
can  devote  a  lane  running  to  the  wood-lot  as  space 
to  exercise  in.  This  lane  is  necessary  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  farm,  and  generally  furnishes  a  road 
to  the  different  parts  of  the  tillable  land  and 


2O2  Soiling. 

meadow.  This  will  furnish  the  colts  abundant 
room  to  make  trials  of  speed,  and  afford  all  the  ex- 
ercise necessary  to  develop  muscle.  This  run-way 
is  easily  fenced  so  substantially  as  to  prevent  the 
colts  from  jumping,  and  thus  becoming  trouble- 
some. I  have  raised  a  dozen  colts  in  this  way,  and 
found  them  to  develop  in  every  respect  as  well  as 
those  pastured.  We  found  this  plan  to  work  with 
brood  mares  and  their  foals.  Having  the  food  of 
the  mares  wholly  under  control,  their  production  of 
milk  will  be  more  uniform,  and  the  growth  of  their 
foals  much  better,  than  on  pasture.  The  dam  re- 
quires full  feeding  upon  appropriate  food,  and  this 
may  always  be  given  in  soiling,  as  any  defect  in  the 
succulence  or  nutrition  of  grasses  or  other  soiling 
foods  may  be  supplemented  with  middlings,  oil 
meal  and  oats.  The  foals  are  also  constantly  under 
the  eye  of  the  feeder,  easily  become  accustomed  to 
handling,  and  may  be  taught  to  take  other  food  at 
a  younger  age.  Early  familiarity  with  the  attend- 
ant and  docility  are  not  only  favorable  to  the  foal's 
progress  in  development,  but  to  its  easy  manage- 
ment at  the  training  age.  The  vigorous,  steady,  and 
healthy  growth  of  colts  is  most  essential  to  their 
future  value  as  serviceable  animals,  and,  therefore, 
to  the  profit  of  the  breeder.  Soiling  offers  the  most 
complete  control  over  the  food  and  management  of 
colts;  and  therefore,  under  this  system,  they  may  be 
grown  with  much  more  uniform  success,  and,  on 
land  worthy  $50  or  more  per  acre,  much  cheaper 
than  by  pasturing.  The  foal  responds  more  quickly 


Soiling  Horses.  203 

to  the  use  of  cow's  milk  than  any  other  food  after 
weaning,  and  this  may  be  skimmed  milk,  after  teach- 
ing it  first  to  drink  new  milk.  The  colt  being  under 
attention  in  soiling,  this  extra  food  may  be  given 
with  little  extra  labor.  From  considerable  experi- 
ence I  consider  the  soiling  system  as  well  adapted 
to  the  raising  of  horses  in  all  stages,  from  the  suck- 
ling colt  to  the  mature  horse." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
WINTER  SOILING  (ENSILAGE). 

HISTORY. 

IN  1875  there  first  came  to  this  country  reports  of 
experiments  made  in  France,  by  Monsieur  Auguste 
Goffart,  of  preserving  green  forage.  After  many 
trials  and  failures,  and  the  expenditure  of  consider- 
able money,  his  labors  were  crowned  with  success. 
The  same  year  the  French  Government  awarded  to 
Mr.  Goffart  the  Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 

M.  Goffart  first  successfully  ensilaged  cut  maize 
in  1873.  For  years  he  held  to  the  idea  that  the 
green  forage  should  be  partially  cured,  and  that  it 
should  be  put  in  the  pit  in  alternate  layers  with 
straw,  until,  more  by  chance  than  otherwise,  he  dis- 
covered that  the  curing  process  and  the  use  of  straw 
was,  more  than  anything  else,  defeating  the  end  in 
view.  Although  ancient  historians  mention  pre- 
serving grain,  and  also  forage,  in  pits  dug  in  the 
ground,  the  system  had  been  discarded  for  hun- 
dreds of  years,  and  M.  Goffart  deserves  all  the 
credit  for  its  rediscovery.  He  must  have  been  a 
most  persistent  and  resolute  man,  for  year  after 
year  he  was  obliged  to  cart  out  the  forage  he  at- 
tempted to  preserve,  as  so  much  manure. 


Winter  Soiling  205 

After  adopting  a  strict  soiling  system  with  my 
cattle,  as  already  explained,  it  was  found  that  more 
stock  could  be  supported  on  the  farm  during  the 
summer  than  could  be  carried  through  the  winter, 
which  was  contrary  to  the  general  practice  under 


AUGUSTE  GOFFART, 

Born  at  Le  Quesnoy,  France,  April  6,  1811.    Ensilaged  Cut  Maize, 
Burtin,  1873. 

the  pasture  system.  This  naturally  attracted  me  to 
the  reports  of  M.  Goff art's  success  in  the  saving  of 
green  forage,  for  it  was  apparent  that  if  ensilage 
was  a  success  it  would  enable  me  to  soil  my  cattle 
winters  as  well  as  summers. 

Francis  Morris,  of  Ellicott  City,  Md.,  experi- 
mented with  whole  corn  in  a  trench  or  pit  dug  in 
the  ground  and  covered  with  earth-  he  reported 


206  Ensilage. 

that  he  found  the  corn  fairly  well  preserved,  and 
that  his  stock  ate  it  well.  To  Dr.  Bailey,  of  Boston, 
Mass.,  belongs,  however,  the  credit  of  building  the 
first  silo  in  America,  a  successful  opening  of  which 
was  reported  in  "  The  Country  Gentleman  "  in  De- 
cember, 1879.  I  hastened  to  Boston  to  see  for  my, 
self.  The  doctor  went  with  me  to  his  farm  at  Bil- 
lerica,  Mass. ,  and  I  saw  the  cows  eating  the  silage ; 
and  when  hay  was  put  into  the  racks  on  top  of  the 
silage,  they  pushed  it  aside,  preferring  the  silage. 
I  had  to  admit  "  that  there  was  no  accounting  for 
taste,"  but  also  "that  the  proof  of  the  pudding  was 
in  the  eating."  The  cows  seemed  to  relish  it,  and 
have  a  hearty  appetite  for  it.  This  settled  the  ques- 
tion for  me.  The  following  season  we  converted  an 
old  cobblestone  carriage-house  and  horse-barn  into 
a  silo  by  taking  out  the  hay -loft  floor,  walling  up  the 
doors,  and  windows,  and  giving  the  interior  a  coat  of 
waterlime  cement.  This  building  was  twenty  or 
thirty  rods  from  the  cattle  barns,  and  all  the  silage 
had  to  be  carted  there,  but  no  matter.  If  my  cows 
could  be  soiled  winters,  I  was  willing  to  put  up  with 
almost  anything  to  accomplish  it. 

This  stone  barn  made  a  silo  eighteen  by  twenty- 
four  inside  and  twenty  feet  deep,  which  was  filled 
the  following  autumn  and  heavily  weighted  with 
stones  (which  were  thought  necessary  at  that  time). 
This  silo  answered  the  purpose,  and  was  a  success 
from  the  first. 

I  believe  this  was  the  first  silo  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  the  second  in  the  United  States,  not  count- 


Winter  Soiling.  207 

ing  Mr.  Morris's  experimental  earth  silo.  I  speak 
of  this  with  some  degree  of  pride,  because  I  was  at 
that  time  subjected  to  much  ridicule.  Soiling  my 
cattle  summers  was  ba*d  enough  in  the  estimation  of 
my  neighbors,  but  ensilage  (sauerkraut  as  it  was 
then  called  by  many)  was  the  capsheaf  of  folly. 

However,  the  cattle  liked  it,  and  I  liked  the  cat- 
tle. The  sheep  ate  it,  and  nothing  that  I  could  do 
was  too  good  for  them.  The  neighbors  laughed  at 
me.  The  cattle  and  sheep  also  laughed  at  me  when- 
ever they  saw  me  coming  on  a  load  of  sauerkraut. 
I  was  getting  50  cents  a  pound  for  butter,  and  I  also 
had  to  laugh. 

As  to  the  result  it  fully  met  my  expectations,  but 
I  have  never  claimed,  as  some  have,  that  it  takes  the 
place  of  soiling,  as  will  be  shown  under  a  heading 
entitled  Soiling  vs.  Ensilage. 

The  only  thing  that  can  be  said  of  ensilage  now, 
compared  with  ensilage  in  1879  and  1880,  is  that  the 
method  of  handling  the  crops  is  much  simplified, 
and  the  construction  of  wooden  silos  instead  of  ma- 
sonry, as  was  then  believed  necessary,  has  greatly 
reduced  the  expense  of  construction.  The  perfec- 
tion of  a  corn  cutter  has  lessened  the  labor  and  ex- 
pense of  harvesting  the  corn,  until  the  system  has 
become  quite  generally  adopted,  and  is  now  within 
the  reach  of  almost  any  farmer. 


208  Ensilage. 


ENSILAGE  vs.  CU^ED  FODDER. 

The  same  grasses  on  which  a  cow  feeds  and  thrives 
in  summer,  and  which  enabled  her  to  produce  an 
abundant  flow  of  rich  milk,  and  butter  superior  in 
color,  and  flavor,  and  quality,  when  cured  and  fed 
to  her  in  the  winter  (or  summer  either  for  that  mat- 
ter) produce  far  less  in  quality  and  quantity,  and  the 
butter  is  also  inferior  in  color  and  flavor. 

Young  cattle  thrive  during  the  summer,  while 
during  the  winter,  if  they  hold  their  own  or  a  little 
better,  they  have  done  as  well  as  most  farmers  could 
expect  even  when  a  little  grain  has  been  added. 

If  it  were  possible,  therefore,  to  supply  our  stock 
in  winter  with  such  succulent  and  nutritious  food  as 
they  are  able  to  obtain  on  grass,  the  difficulties 
above  referred  to  would,  in  a  great  measure  be  over- 
come. Ensilage  comes  the  nearest  to  supplying 
these  conditions  of  anything  we  know  of  for  a  win- 
ter forage.  Our  experimental  station,  by  careful 
and  repeated  analysis  of  cured-corn  fodder  and  en- 
silage, sometimes  find  a  result  in  favor  of  one,  some- 
times the  other,  but  generally  it  has  been  in  favor 
of  ensilage. 

First,  the  chemist  puts  both  ensilage  and  cured- 
corn  fodder  in  a  dry  kiln  to  note  the  amount  of 
moisure  (all  juices  of  plants  being  recorded  as  so 
much  water).  The  kiln-dried  product  is  then  sub- 
jected to  chemical  tests,  and  finally  consumed, 


Winter  Soiling.  209 

burned.     As  a  result  they  find  the  feeding  and  ma- 
nurial  value  of  both  samples. 

Although  all  juice  of  the  plant  is  looked  upon  as 
so  much  water,  curing  clover  hay  or  cornstalks,  and 
then  adding  to  them  as  much  water  as  they  lost  in 
juice,  this,  while  it  usually  gives  better  results  than 
when  fed  dry,  does  by  no  means  restore  the  forage 
to  its  full  feeding  value.  You  may  go  a  step  farther 
and  cook  or  steam  the  feed,  and  still  you  have  not 
been  able  to  bring  back  to  it  what  it  possessed,  or,  at 
least,  what  the  animals  are  able  to  extract  from  the 
same  food  in  its  green,  succulent  state. 

That  ensilage  contains  greater  feeding  value  than 
cured  corn,  no  one  should  expect.  There  is  cer- 
tainly nothing  within  the  four  walls  of  a  silo  to 
manufacture  albuminoids,  carbohydrates,  or  fat; 
therefore,  whatever  difference  there  may  be  in  the 
result  of  feeding  green  forage  and  cured,  that  differ- 
ence should  be  credited  to  the  juice  of  the  plant  as 
so  much  food.  Every  farmer  knows  that  whole 
cornstalks  are  always  fed  at  a  waste.  From  fifty  to 
seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  stalk  goes  into  the 
manure  pile,  unless  absolute  hunger  induces  the 
stock  to  eat  more  than  they  otherwise  would.  Even 
when  run  through  the  cutter  a  large  proportion  is 
wasted.  The  experiment  station  says  that  the  grain 
is  forty-five  per  cent,  of  the  plant,  and  that  forty-five 
per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the  plant  is  in  the  stalk  be- 
low the  ear,  and  only  ten  per  cent,  of  the  value  of 
the  stalk  above  the  ear. 
14 


2 1  o  Ensilage. 


PALATABILITY. 

Then  comes  the  question  of  palatability.  A  piece 
of  fat  pork  may  furnish  more  nutriment  to  a  person 
than  a  whole  loaf  of  bread ;  but  if  the  person  dislikes 
the  one  and  enjoys  the  other,  what  comfort  or  bene- 
fit is  that  person  to  get  from  a  chemical  analysis? 
When  a  cow  leaves  hay  to  eat  ensilage,  and  hungers 
for  it,  what  good  is  it  to  the  cow,  or  to  the  owner 
either,  to  know  that  the  hay  contains  the  greater 
feeding  value?  This  is  another  point  that  is  invari- 
ably lost  sight  of  at  experimental  stations.  If  a 
cow  eats  cured  stalks  simply  to  satisfy  hunger,  and 
has  a  relish  for  ensilage  in  quantities  controlled  only 
by  her  capacity,  it  is  not  a  question  of  albuminoids, 
carbohydrates,  and  fats,  but  of  dollars  and  cents  to 
the  owner.  "  Allowing  the  cows  to  eat  as  much  as 
they  wanted  of  corn  silage  and  fodder  corn  with  the 
same  ration  of  hay,  bran,  and  oats,  they  were  able 
to  give  more  milk  daily,  which  contained  more  fat 
on  the  ensilage  than  on  the  fodder  corn,  while  the 
quantity  of  butter  produced  on  the  ensilage  feed 
was  more  than  on  the  fodder-corn  feed."  At  the 
same  time  the  cows  invariably  consumed  less  dry 
matter  when  on  fodder  than  when  on  ensilage. 

ENSILAGE  vs.  HAY. 

The  advantages  of  winter  soiling  over  the  feeding 
of  cured  hay  and  cornstalks  may  be  summed  up  un- 
der the  following  heads,  but  as  these  points  have 


Winter  Soiling.  211 

been  discussed  largely  under  similar  headings  and 
under  summer  soiling,  a  brief  mention  of  them  will 
suffice. 

First.  The  increased  acreage  of  the  farm.  Here 
in  adopting  winter  soiling  lies  the  great  and  unmis- 
takable value  or  profit,  and  it  is  passing  strange 
how  for  years  and  years  the  question  hung  on  the 
point  of  what  analysis  was  able  to  prove  compared 
with  hay  or  dried  corn  fodder.  The  question  is  the 
same  as  with  summer  soiling.  What  is  the  use  of 
discussing  whether  there  is  more  feeding  value  in  a 
ton  of  grass  or  a  ton  of  oats  and  peas?  What  the 
soiler  wants  to  know  is  how  many  more  head  of  cat- 
tle he  can  support  from  an  acre. 

It  may  take  two  or  even  three  tons  of  ensilage  to 
equal  a  ton.  of  hay,  but  if  by  growing  ensilage  the 
farmer  can  make  one  acre  produce  an  equivalent  in 
feeding  value  to  five,  six,  and  even  seven  tons  of 
hay  per  acre,  there  is  a  gain  so  distinct  that  he  who 
runs  may  read.  It  matters  little  whether  science 
agrees  with  the  cattle  or  not.  There  are  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  farmers  who  have  demonstrated 
that  ensilage  is  a  good  thing.  They  have  doubled 
the  number  of  their  dairy,  they  are  getting  twice  as 
much  milk  a  year  as  formerly,  making  twice  as  much 
manure,  and  growing  crops  that  have  in  many  cases 
doubled  the  former  yield,  and  they  have  done  it  all 
without  buying  more  land. 

The  following  table  shows  at  a  glance  the  real 
value  and  advantage  of  ensilage  over  hay.  It  may 
be  stated  that,  as  a  rule,  land  that  will  produce  one 


212 


Ensilage. 


ton  of  hay  per  acre  will  produce  fifteen  tons  of  en- 
silage, and  land  that  will  produce  two  tons  of  hay 
per  acre  will  produce  thirty  tons  of  ensilage  per 
acre.  Two  tons  of  ensilage  is  fully  equal  to  a  ton 
of  hay  in  feeding  results,  no  matter  what  the  chemist 
says  as  to  their  comparative  analyses. 


ENSILAGE  vs.  HAY. 


ENSILAGE. 

HAY. 

Dr. 

Cr. 

Dr. 

Cr. 

$12.00 

$1.00 

2.50 

P     t  of  rutting  and  delivering  to  barn 

Value  fifteen  tons  ensilage  (two  tons  ensilage 

$5.00 

Il.OO 

$90.00 

Seed,  fitting  the  ground  and  cultivating  
Labor  to  cut  and  secure  fifteen  tons,  estimated. 

$74.00 

$8.50 

g 

The  use  of  the  land  is  the  same  in  both  cases.  I 
have  not  taken  the  question  of  manure  into  account. 
My  experiences  in  plowing  portions  of  meadows  for 
ensilage,  at  Maple  Lane,  were  as  follows:  Five 
and  one-half  acres  of  an  eight-acre  field  of  hay  was 
planted  to  ensilage  without  manure.  We  cut  nearly 
thirty  tons  of  ensilage  per  acre,  as  proved  by  the 
number  of  cubic  feet  of  ensilage  in  the  silo,  when 
settled;  estimating  fifty  pounds  per  cubic  foot.  I  am 
positive  that  from  the  remainder  of  the  field  there 
was  not  cut  more  than  a  ton  and  a  half  of  cured  hay 
per  acre. 


Winter  Soiling.  213 

On  Murray  Hill  the  experiment  was  repeated  on 
land  that  only  produced  three-fourths  of  a  ton  of 
clover  per  acre.  From  the  same  field  we  cut  at  least 
fifteen  tons  of  ensilage  per  acre  without  manuring 
the  piece. 

Several  times  in  this  work  attention  has  been 
called  to  the  saving  of  land  by  the  soiling  system, 
as  its  most  distinctive  feature,  as  shown  by  the 
table.  The  feeding  value  of  an  acre  of  ensilage 
or  an  acre  of  grass  is  ten  to  one.  It  is  passing 
strange  that  experimental  stations,  and  the  pub- 
lic in  general,  have  been  so  slow  in  compre- 
hending this  point. 

CURED  CORN  vs.  ENSILAGE. 

There  is  only  one  answer  to  the  question  of  cost 
between  curing  corn  stalks  and  ensilaging  the  same, 
allowing  there  is  no  difference  in  feeding  value,  and 
the  answer  is  in  favor  of  silage.  It  always  has  been, 
especially  if  the  cured  fodder  is  run  through  the 
cutting  box  or  shredder ;  in  both  cases  the  planting 
and  cutting  are  the  same.  Both  have  to  be  delivered 
to  the  barn.  In  this  there  is  something  saved  in 
hauling  the  dried  stalks  over  ensilage,  but  there 
comes  the  expense  of  shocking  the  former ;  therefore 
the  question  of  harvesting  is  in  favor  of  silage.  A 
cubic  foot  of  ensilage  weighs  about  fifty  pounds; 
therefore  one  ton  only  occupies  forty  cubic  feet.  A 
ton  of  hay  in  mow  or  stack  occupies  525  cubic  feet, 
or  about  thirteen  times  as  much  room  as  a  ton  of 


2 1 4  Ensilage. 

silage,  while   a  ton  of  cured-corn  fodder  requires 
much  more  space  than  hay. 

If  two  tons  of  ensilage  are  equal  to  a  ton  of  hay, 
then  ensilage  will  require  only  one-sixth  as  much 
room  as  hay.  So  much  for  the  simple  question  of 
economy  in  storage  between  the  two  methods. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
THE  SILO. 

How  LARGE  TO  BUILD. 

A  FULL-GROWN  cow  will  consume  from  one  and  one- 
half  to  two  cubic  feet  of  ensilage  per  day,  but  gen- 
erally it  has  been  found  advisable  to  make  one  of 
three  feedings  a  day  of  hay. 

At  one  and  one-half  cubic  feet  per  day,  a  cow 
would  consume  in  six  months  (the  usual  length  of 
time  for  feeding  winter  forage  in  Western  New 
York),  270  cubic  feet,  allowing  for  waste,  say  300 
cubic  feet.  If  we  multiply  300  cubic  feet  by  the 
number  of  animals  we  wish  to  feed,  it  will  give 
the  size  that  is  required  to  build,  in  cubic  feet. 

The  following  table  gives  the  capacity  in  tons  of 
different-sized  silos.  It  is  reckoned  at  forty  cubic 
feet  per  ton,  and  a  ton  to  last  a  cow  one  month. 
That  is  about  sixty-six  pounds  per  day,  which  is  a 
liberal  feeding.  The  quantity  is  computed  for  six 
months,  estimating  fifteen  tons  per  acre. 


2l6 


Ensilage. 


SIZE. 

CAPACITY. 

Diameter. 

Height. 

Cubic 
Feet. 

Tons 
Contained. 

Cows 
Numbered. 

Acres 
Required. 

I 

10 

20 

1,455 

30 

5 

2 

2 

10 

24 

1,745 

43 

7 

3 

3 

12 

20 

2,160 

9 

4 

.      12 

24 

2,532 

63 

ii 

4/^ 

I 

12 

16 

20 

3,240 
3,840 

80 

90 

13 
15 

I 

I 

16 
16 

24 
3° 

4,608 
5,760 

"5 

24 

8 

IO 

As  to  height,  the  modern  ensilage  cutters  have 
carriers  to  almost  any  length,  twenty-five  to  thirty 
feet  if  necessary.  The  silo  should  not  be  too  large 
on  top.  It  is  best  to  uncover  the  whole  at  a  time, 
taking  off  the  entire  top  each  day.  This  prevents 
cutting  down  with  a  hay  knife. 


WHERE  TO  BUILD. 

In  locating  the  silo  it  should  by  all  means  be  placed 
so  as  to  open  into  the  cow  stable,  and  on  a  level  with 
it,  but  not  directly  into  the  stable.  The  idea  is  to 
keep  the  odor  from  the  barn  except  when  feeding; 
that  is,  in  a  barn  for  dairy  cows,  as  the  milk,  while 
being  taken  from  the  cows,  absorbs  the  odor,  and 
has  been  the  cause  of  condemned  milk  from  ensil- 
age-fed cows.  This  contamination  comes  from  the 
odor  in  the  barn  and  not  because  the  animals  feed 
on  ensilage.  If  the  number  of  cows  will  warrant 
it,  the  silage  can  be  delivered  from  a  wagon  the 
same  as  the  summer  soiling  crops.  The  silo  should 
be  so  placed  as  not  to  interfere  with  drawing  through 


The  Silo. 


217 


the  barn  with  soiling  crops,  and  for  getting  out  with 
manure. 

How  TO  BUILD. 

There  are  so  many  different  ways  of  building  a 
silo  that  it  will  be  impossible  to  mention  them  all. 
I  shall  only  speak  of  the  most  general  methods. 

Of  Masonry. — We  built  two  silos  of  brick,  holding 
1 60  tons  each,  at  Murray  Hill,  and  they  gave  excel- 
lent satisfaction.  This  was  in  1883,  and  they  are  as 
good  to-day  as  ever.  Possibly  a  masonry  silo  will 
be  found  the  cheapest  in  the  end. 

Of  Concrete. — Six  to  eight  parts  gravel  to  one  of 
cement.  This  is  built  by  pouring  or  dumping  the 


mixture  between  planks  placed  on  edge,  and  sup- 
ported by  braces  and  upright  timbers  to  keep  the 


2 1 8  Ensilage. 

planks  from  spreading.  This  makes  a  very  service- 
able wall,  and  an  inexpensive  one,  especially  where 
the  owner  has  the  gravel  at  hand.  A  wall  of  this 
kind  should  be  eighteen  inches  at  the  bottom,  and 
taper  to  twelve  inches  on  top,  and  be  built  plumb 
on  the  inside. 

The  Square  Wooden  Silo.  —  Studding,  double 
boarded  on  the  inside,  with  building  or  tarred  paper 
between  the  boards,  is  recommended  by  some.  Oth- 
ers say  they  rot  out  quickly.  The  space  between 
the  studding  should  run  up  and  down  and  should 
be  well  ventilated  from  the  outside.  If  this  precau- 
tion is  taken  the  boarding  will  last  a  number  of  years. 
The  outside  may  be  covered  with  single  board  or 
double,  as  the  owner  may  think  advisable. 

The  Round  Silo. — This  seems  to  be  the  favorite 
plan  of  late  years,  and  they  are  constructed  in  nu- 
merous ways.  Half-inch  boards  sprung  to  fit  up- 
right studding,  put  on  double  thick,  breaking  joints, 
with  building  or  tarred  paper  between,  and  clap- 
boarded  outside. 

Others  make  several  circular  joists  out  of  inch 
boards  nailed  together,  and  use  matched  boards 
for  the  inside,  nailed  up  and  down. 

Stave  Silos. — This  seems  to  be  the  favorite  of  the 
wooden  structures.  I  have  seen  many  of  these  stave 
silos,  and  the  one  I  would  copy  is  built  as  follows,  on 
a  leveled  cement  wall,  built  as  shown.  Set  on  end 
four  or  six  or  eight  (according  to  diameter  of  silo), 
2X4  inch  oak  scantlings  or  other  hard  wood, 
planed.  Bend  the  five-eighth  inch  round  steel  rods 


The  Silo. 


219 


Hoop 


SecHon  of 

5ilo  5howit\g  Doors. 


/'-*">« 


220  Ensilage. 

that  form  the  hoops  to  the  circle  of  the  silo.  Bore 
holes  through  these  2X4  scantling  for  the  hoops 
to  pass  through.  The  scantling  is  set  edgewise 


Pt&r\  of  T\our\d  Silo. 

o*      i'      a.'     3' 

i      i      i      i 


and  forms  a  stave  of  the  silo,  as  shown.  When 
these  are  hooped  and  set  up,  the  setting  up  of  the 
staves  on  the  inside  will  be  a  very  easy  task.  These 


The  Silo.  22 1 


ii — 


iu — = 

c 


"Round   5ilb, 


222  Ensilage. 

hoops  are  made  in  sections,  three  or  four  pieces  to 
each  hoop,  and  are  afterward  drawn  together  by 
nuts  on  each  end,  not  shown  in  the  cut,  as  they  come 
through  the  two  by  four.  The  doors  or  openings 
are  nailed  to  a  batten,  shaped  to  fit  the  circle.  They 
are  then  sawed  out,  and  an  inch  board  is  put  on,  as 
shown,  to  form  a  jam.  The  doors  are  taken  down 
as  the  silage  is  fed  out. 

There  are  lumber  firms  in  all  parts  of  the  country 
that  make  a  specialty  of  furnishing  the  staves  any 
desired  length,  and  the  iron  hoops  for  completing 
the  same.  They  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
stave  cisterns  built  plumb.  As  to  the  cost,  if  the 
stave  silo  is  enclosed,  there  is  little  difference  in  the 
cost  of  the  three  styles.  It  would  be  useless  to  give 
figures,  as  the  price  of  lumber  differs,  and  what 
would  be  a  guide  for  one  would  not  answer  for  an- 
other 

GENERAL  PLAN  OF  BARN  AND  STABLE. 

The  following  plan  for  a  barn  and  silo  suitable  for 
summer  soiling  is  shown  on  page  223.  This  barn 
shows  two  concrete  silos,  and  dotted  lines  for  two 
stave  silos,  one  on  each  side  of  the  barn,  in  case  it  is 
desirable  to  stand  the  cattle  facing  in  opposite  direc- 
tions. If  it  is  thought  more  advantageous  to  stand 
the  cattle  facing  each  other,  the  two  silos  may  be 
built  at  the  end  of  the  barn,  as  also  shown  by  dotted 
lines,  in  which  case  the  manure-shed  will  have  to 
be  moved  further  to  the  left.  The  question  of 


The  Silo. 


223 


224  Ensilage. 

which  way  the  cattle  had  better  stand  may  be  decid- 
ed by  the  method  of  handling  the  manure.  If  the 
stables  are  to  be  cleaned  daily  by  wheeling  the 
manure  in  a  barrow  to  a  compost  pile,  then  the  cat- 
tle better  stand  facing,  so  as  to  be  most  convenient 
for  feeding  the  soiling  crops,  which,  of  course, 
must  be  brought  in  on  a  wagon.  Where  the  barn  is 
already  built,  and  there  is  not  room  for  a  drive 
through  from  end  to  end,  the  cattle  may  stand  in 
rows  crossways  of  the  barn,  or  the  soiling  crops  may 
be  driven  into  the  barn  on  the  floor  above,  and  fed 
down  to  the  cattle  in  a  shoot.  With  silos  at  the  end 
of  the  barn,  the  silage  may  be  thrown  into  a  wagon 
from  either  silo  through  a  shoot,  and  thus  carted  in 
front  of  the  cows,  and  fed  directly  from  the  wagon 
into  the  mangers,  in  case  the  cows  stand  facing  the 
floor,  which  is  on  a  level  with  the  top  of  manger, 
as  is  the  four-foot  passage  shown  on  page  223. 

STACKING  ENSILAGE. 

The  method  adopted  in  England  has  been  to  stack 
the  ensilage,  but  the  practice  never  became  gen- 
eral, as  they  do  not  grow  maize  or  Indian  corn,  and 
only  the  grasses,  clover,  oats,  vetches,  etc.,  are 
treated  in  this  manner  when  the  seasons  are  un- 
favorable for  curing  them.  While  any  green  plant 
may  be  ensilaged,  corn  is  probably  the  only  crop 
that  will  ever  find  universal  favor  for  that  purpose. 
The  stacking  process  with  hay  is  a  most  laborious 
process,  and,  therefore,  has  not  come  into  general 


The  Silo.  225 

use.  The  stacks  are  usually  provided  with  some 
sort  of  an  arrangement  for  pressing  the  forage. 

That  it  could  be  done  in  this  country  is  evident. 
Two  canning  factories  in  Mount  Morris,  N.  Y., 
stack  their  pea  vines,  corn  husks  and  cobs.  These 
factories  ensilage  the  husks  of  over  a  thousand 
acres  of  corn  yearly,  and  winters  feed  out  this 
stacked  refuse  to  several  hundred  bullocks.  The 
pea  vines  from  nearly  as  many  acres  more  are 
stacked  in  the  same  way  (whole). 

This  year  one  of  the  factories  ran  the  refuse 
through  a  cutting  box  into  a  rough  plank  silo  about 
thirty  feet  in  diameter.  The  planks  were  rough 
just  as  they  came  from  the  saw-mill,  set  on  end, 
and  hooped  with  half-inch  round  iron.  No  roof  was 
put  on,  and  when  the  silage  settled,  the  staves  were 
taken  down,  the  silage  stood,  and  the  whole  mass 
kept  in  perfect  form.  Next  year  the  staves  (2  by  6 
inch  plank)  will  be  set  up  again.  As  to  its  spoiling, 
there  is  six  or  eight  inches  on  the  sides  that  rots,  and 
is  thrown  into  the  manure  heap.  As  to  freezing, 
they  experience  no  inconvenience  from  that.  If  the 
top  freezes  a  little,  it  is  mixed  with  the  unfrozen ; 
fermentation  sets  up,  and  the  frozen  part  is  thawed 
out  by  its  own  combustion. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
GROWING  ENSILAGE. 

AMOUNT  OF  LAND  REQUIRED. 

TWENTY  tons  per  acre  is  a  good  average  crop  on 
land  in  a  good  state  of  cultivation.  The  yield  per 
acre  varies  from  twelve  to  fifty  tons.  If  you  have 
built  a  silo  with  capacity  for  your  herd  as  above,  it 
is  easy  to  compute  the  number  of  tons  it  will  require 
for  six  months'  feeding  at  forty  cubic  feet  per  ton. 
As  to  how  many  acres  you  will  require,  that  all  de- 
pends upon  the  fertility  of  your  soil,  and  the  only 
way  to  tell  is  by  trying.  Make  a  liberal  estimate, 
If  you  have  too  much,  it  is  not  necessarily  wasted. 
It  can  be  shocked  and  husked  as  field  corn. 

PREPARING  THE  GROUND. 

If  possible,  plow  in  the  autumn  and  sow  to  rye. 
Top  dress  the  rye  during  the  winter  direct  from  the 
stables.  Set  stakes  so  as  to  continue  on  snow  if 
necessary.  Next  spring  plow  the  rye  under,  and 
as  described  in  chapter  on  green  manure,  page  18, 
this  green  crop  of  rye  plowed  under  will  be  the 
cheapest  possible  fertilizer,  accumulating  for  you 
all  the  fall,  winter,  and  spring.  In  this  manner, 


Growing  Ensilage.  227 

one  field,  the  most  convenient  to  the  barn  and  silos, 
may  be  kept  growing  ensilage  fodder  for  years  in 
succession. 

Plow  deeper  in  the  spring,  the  deeper  the  better. 
Put  on  three  horses  and  do  the  work  thoroughly. 
Prepare  the  soil  as  for  field  corn,  and  sow  with  a 
grain  drill  rigged  as  described  for  sowing  corn  for 
soiling  crops,  only  the  rows  should  be  three  feet 
apart.  Sixteen  quarts  of  seed  per  acre,  or  twelve 
quarts  if  sown  three  and  one-half  feet  apart. 

Roll  the  ground  before  and  after  drilling,  and  cul- 
tivate two  or  three  times  with  a  smoothing  harrow, 
teeth  set  slanting  back,  or  a  broadcast  weeder. 

When  corn  gets  too  high  for  these,  go  through 
once  or  twice  with  two-horse  or  single-horse  culti- 
vator. 

VARIETY. 

Personally  I  prefer  the  common  Western  Dent 
varieties  of  medium  growth,  a  kind  that  ears  well, 
to  the  larger,  coarser,  Southern  varieties,  which  may 
produce  more  tons  per  acre. 

HARVESTING. 

With  fifteen  or  twenty  acres  of  ensilage  fodder, 
no  one  can  afford  to  be  without  one  of  the  several 
corn  harvesters,  which  will  be  found  most  handy  in 
harvesting  corn  and  sorghum  for  summer  soiling  as 
well. 

A  low  truck  wagon  or  a  low  rack  between  the 
wheels  of  a  high  wagon  are  quite  essential  to  the 


228  Ensilage. 

handling  of  the  fodder.  A  good  plan  is  to  use 
three  wagons  and  two  teams.  A  load  is  brought 
to  the  cutting  machine,  and  driven  alongside. 
Two  men  are  required  at  the  cutter,  one  to  unload, 
the  other  to  feed.  The  driver  leaves  his  wagon 


Showing  the  McCormick  corn  harvester  cutting  corn  on  newly   tile- 
drained  ground  in  field  where  the  draft  trials  were  made. 


there,  and  goes  to  the  field  with  one  that  has  just 
been  emptied.  The  driver  loads  his  own  wagon. 
This  makes  four  men  to  deliver  the  fodder  to  the 
silo,  and  one  man  inside  to  keep  it  level  and  thor- 
oughly tramped  around  the  edges,  the  engineer  and 
the  man  who  runs  the  harvester.  The  cutting  may 
go  on  for  a  day  or  two  before  the  filling  begins. 
The  wilting  of  the  fodder  will  do  no  harm  (a  heavy 


Growing  Ensilage.  229 

rainstorm  probably  would).  Some  deliver  the  fod- 
der to  the  cutter  in  one-horse  dump  carts,  dumping 
the  load  at  the  cutter,  and  returning  to  the  field. 


FILLING  THE  SILO. 

A  chute  should  be  arranged  to  receive  the  silage 
as  it  comes  into  the  top  of  the  silo,  and  be  so  set  as 
to  cause  the  silage  to  fall  in  the  center  of  the  silo, 
for  two  reasons :  if  the  silage  is  delivered  into  the 
silo  from  the  carrier  direct,  the  larger  and  heavier 
pieces  are  thrown  out  from  the  rest,  and  are,  there- 
fore, more  or  less  separated  on  landing  inside.  This 
should  be  avoided.  Again,  if  the  silage  falls  into 
the  middle,  and  is  allowed  to  form  a  stack  there, 
the  man  who  distributes  the  silage  to  the  sides  has 
all  downhill  work,  and  no  attention  need  be  paid  to 
tramping  except  just  around  the  edges. 

The  tramping  of  the  edges  is  best  accomplished  by 
a  man  standing  with  his  back  to  the  silo  wall,  and 
taking  short  side  steps  around  the  silo,  then,  spread- 
ing out  another  layer,  say,  a  foot  thick  or  more,  from 
what  is  accumulating  in  the  centre,  then  treading 
again. 

The  idea  of  keeping  a  lot  of  men  in  a  silo  and 
sometimes  a  horse  to  tread  is  superfluous.  If  the  silo 
is  large  and  the  cutting  very  rapid,  before  the  men 
quit  at  night  or  before  starting  next  morning,  all 
hands  can  go  in  for  a  few  minutes  and  help,  or  when 
there  are  a  few  minutes  to  spare  between  loads,  the 
cutter,  and  feeder,  and  engineer,  if  there  is  one,  can 


230  Ensilage. 

give  a  hand.  There  is  invariably  a  delay  some  time 
during  the  day  that  can  be  worked  to  advantage  in 
this  way. 

POWER. 

In  some  sections  there  are  men  who  go  about  witn 
ensilage  cutter  and  a  threshing  engine,  and  supply 
the  extra  help  the  same  as  for  threshing ;  and  as  en- 
silage harvest  comes  after  most  of  the  grain  thresh- 
ing is  over,  there  is  usually  no  difficulty  in  securing 
an  engine  to  do  this  work. 

A  two-horse  tread  power  will  operate  a  good-sized 
cutter,  but  it  seems  like  too  much  work,  besides  the 
horses  are  all  wanted  in  the  field  at  this  time.  An 
eight  horse-power  engine  is  best,  as  it  only  requires 
four  to  six  horse-power  to  run  a  very  large  cutter. 
The  engine  is  easily  attended  to,  and  the  engineer 
can  often  give  a  hand  at  feeding,  treading,  etc. 

PRESSING. 

It  was  formerly  thought  necessary  to  weight  the 
silage  heavily.  At  Maple  Lane  farm,  1880  to  1883, 
we  had  two  feet  of  stone  on  a  plank  covering.  At 
Murray  Hill  in  1884,  we  made  concrete  blocks  about 
eighteen  inches  square,  and  hoisted  them  in  and  out 
with  a  hand  derrick. 

Nowadays  little  attention  is  paid  to  weighting;  a 
few  inches  of  cut  straw,  and  a  plank  covering  are 
about  all  that  is  necessary,  and  the  majority  do 
without  that.  Silage  is  heavy.  A  good  day's  filling 
has  weight  enough  in  itself  to  press  all  below  it. 


Growing  Ensilage.  231 

It  is  the  carbonic  acid  gas  which  it  generates  in 
the  process  of  fermentation  that  is  relied  upon  to 
preserve  the  silage.  This  is  heavier  than  air.  The 
first  stage  toward  decay  is  the  lactic,  then  the  alco- 
holic, then  the  acetic.  At  this  point,  if  the  air  is 
replaced  by  the  carbonic  acid  gas  which  this  stage 
of  decomposition  produces,  the  air,  as  before  stated, 
is  expelled  and  fermentation  ceases.  The  next 
stage  to  the  acetic  is  decay.  When  the  silage  is  re- 
moved from  the  silo  and  comes  in  contact  with  the 
open  air,  fermentation  begins  where  it  left  off,  as  in- 
dicated by  the  heat  that  is  speedily  generated. 

The  only  pressing  that  is  necessary,  if  any  at  all, 
is  to  put  on  enough  to  press  together  or  exclude  as 
much  air  as  possible  from  the  last  two  feet  of  silage. 
It  is  a  good  plan  to  leave  one  or  two  days'  cutting  to 
put  on  top  after  the  silo  has  settled.  Or,  where 
there  are  two  silos,  they  can  be  cut  into  alternate 
days. 

As  to  slow  or  rapid  filling,  there  is  little  to  be  said 
in  favor  of  either. 

The  question  of  the  quality  of  the  silage,  I  believe, 
is  not  owing  at  all  to  whether  the  silo  was  filled  fast 
or  slow,  but  to  the  condition  of  the  corn  itself  when 
the  harvesting  begins.  I  have  ensilaged  corn  in  its 
greenest  possible  stage,  before  there  was  a  sign  of  a 
leaf,  when  the  ears  were  not  yet  fit  for  roasting  or 
boiling;  also  when  the  ears  were  glazed  and  the 
leaves  were  dying,  and  still  later  when  it  was  fit  to 
cut  and  shock,  ears  ripe,  husks  ripe,  bottom  leaves 
ripe;  then  again  after  a  severe  frost,  and  again 


232 


Ensilage. 


with  sweet  corn  after  all  the  ears  had  been  plucked 
for  the  canning  factory.  Some  farmers  cut  and 
shock  their  ensilage,  and  after  standing  for  a  month 
or  six  weeks  in  the  field,  they  ensilage  it,  and  even 
then  it  makes  good  silage.  I  have  had  as  sour  ensi- 
lage from  slow  as  from  rapid  filling,  but  the  stalks 
were  in  both  cases  green.  The  poorest  silage,  sour, 
bitter,  watery  stuff,  was  from  the  first  mentioned, 
the  second  was  better  in  this  respect,  and  the  third 
best  of  all. 

This  leads  me  to  say  that  corn  for  ensilage  should 
be  sown  from  three  to  three  and  one-third  feet 
apart,  according  to  size  of  variety,  so  as  to  allow  it 
to  very  nearly,  if  not  quite,  ripen  as  you  would  for 
cutting  and  shocking.  The  thoroughly  ripe  corn 
makes  better  ensilage  than  the  green.-  There  is, 
from  the  moment  the  ear  reaches  maturity,  a  de- 
cided loss  in  feeding  value  of  the  stalk,  as  shown  by 
the  following: 

TIME  TO  HARVEST. 
New  York  Experiment  Station,  8th  Annual  Report. 

"Yield  per  acre,  and  the  per  cent,  of  water  for 
each  period: 


Pounds 
Per  Acre. 

Dry 
Matter. 

Per  Cent 
Water. 

Tons 
Water 
Per  Acre. 

j| 

. 

8  21 

9*3 

Ssios 

4643 

85  76 

September  7th,  kernels  glazed  
September  27th,  kernels  ripe  

32,295 
28,460 

7,202 
7,9l8 

77.70 
72.18 

12.51 
10.27 

Growing  Ensilage. 


233 


"Professor  Roberts,  of  Cornell  University,  says: 
'  Fodder  corn  sown  broadcast  does  not  meet  the  needs 
of  milking  cows.  Fodder  corn  is  mainly  a  device  of 
a  thoughtless  farmer,  to  fool  his  cows  into  believing 
that  they  have  been  fed  when  they  have  only  been 
filled  up.' 

"  While  the  tons  of  water  decreased  as  it  neared 
maturity,  the  dry  matter  steadily  increased.  From 
the  first  date  to  the  last  the  dry  matter  increased 
4.8  times,  i.e.,  1,619  to  7,916  Ib.  per  acre,  while  the 
digestible  albuminoids  increased. " 


Starch 
Per  Acre. 

Digestible 
Albuminoids. 

July    ^oth 

2,852  96 

326.21 

CORN  PER  ACRE. 


Albuminoids. 

Carbohydrates. 

Fat. 

July  3oth  

1,168  10 

478  60 

677  78 

6  561  64 

3  434 

"  Corn  in  the  shock  loses  thirteen  to  fifteen  per  cent, 
of  dry  matter." 

COVERING. 

Bran  as  a  Covering.—  Mr.  Henry  Woods,  of  Eng- 
land, was  the  first,  I  believe,  to  suggest  the  practice 
of  covering  the  ensilage  with  bran.  He  says:  "I 


234  Ensilage. 

chose  this  covering  in  order  to  exclude  the  air  by  a 
cleaner  and  also  a  more  effectual  mantle  than  soil. 
A  shrinkage  goes  on,  soil  has  a  tendency  to  crack, 
making  openings  that  admit  the  air,  and  some  por- 
tions of  the  soil,  at  least,  work  down  into  the  ensi- 
lage. Moreover,  there  is  the  immense  advantage  of 
perfect  cleanliness  combined  with  usefulness. "  He 
wrote  this  in  1883.  In  1884  he  says,  "Further  ex- 
perience has  confirmed  me  in  this  view,  i.e.,  a  layer 
of  bran  over  the  boards  not  less  than  four  or  five 
inches  in  depth  is  the  best  possible  covering." 

He  adds  in  substance,  by  way  of  caution,  that  some 
have  fallen  into  a  great  mistake  of  putting  the  bran 
under  the  planks  instead  of  over,  in  which  case  the 
bran  was  injured  for  feeding  purposes. 

The  method  that  seems  to  have  met  with  most 
universal  favor  in  the  States  is  to  cut  or  spread  over 
the  top  grass,  then  boards  or  planks.  Others  have 
covered  with  plank  and  earth,  and  report  most  favor- 
ably. Others  still  have  put  no  covering  at  all  over 
the  silage  except  boards,  while  still  others  claim  that 
the  silage  keeps  better  if  planked  and  weighted. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
FEEDING    ENSILAGE. 

AMOUNT  OF  RATION. 

ENSILAGE  is  not  a  perfect  food,  we  are  told  by  the 
chemist,  and  to  make  it  so  requires  (per  cubic  foot)  a 
few  pounds  of  bran,  crushed  oats,  oil-cake  meal,  or 
one  feeding  a  day  of  cured  oats  and  peas  or  clover 
hay.  As  to  the  amount  of  grain  to  be  given  with 
two  feedings  of  ensilage  and  one  of  clover  hay,  that 
depends  entirely  what  we  are  feeding  for,  the  dry 
cattle  and  young  things  will  thrive  on  ensilage 
morning  and  evening,  and  clover  hay  or  oats  or 
peas  at  noon.  If  it  is  desirable  to  make  winter  but- 
ter, a  ration  of  the  above  mixture  in  the  following 
proportions  will  be  found  about  right:  three  parts 
bran,  two  parts  crushed  oats,  and  one  part  of  oil- 
cake meal  (old  process  preferred).  My  experiments 
with  so-called  balanced  rations  have  not  been  as 
satisfactory  in  practice  as  in  theory.  I  am  quite 
satisfied  with  the  above  feed.  As  to  the  amount  of 
silage  to  feed  morning  and  night,  give  all  they  will 
eat  up  clean.  The  feeder  will  soon  learn  how  much 
to  give  of  grain  or  silage.  The  best  rule  is  to  keep 
giving  grain  as  long  as  a  cow  responds  to  it.  When 


236  Ensilage. 

you  have  reached  that  point,  you  have  found  your 
animal's  capacity,  and  there  stop.  You  will  require 
a  pair  of  scales  to  weigh  each  milking,  a  Babcock  to 
make  occasional  tests.  With  these  at  hand,  you  can 
easily  find  a  cow's  capacity.  To  this  she  should  be 
fed  to  make  her  most  economical.  No  one  can  make 
a  cast-iron  feeding  ration.  Only  an  intelligent  feeder 
with  scales  and  test  at  hand  can  find  a  cow's  capac- 
ity, and  you  will  be  surprised  to  find  that  two  quarts 
of  the  above  mixture  a  day  is  one  cow's  limit,  and 
sixteen  quarts  a  day  can  be  taken  care  of  by  a  cow 
standing  next  to  her.  Balanced  rations  are,  no 
doubt,  all  right  theoretically,  but  there  comes  in 
capacity  of  the  cow,  strength  of  machinery.  A 
small  cow  may  be,  and  they  generally  are,  better 
and  more  economical  feeders  than  large  ones.  It 
takes,  we  are  told,  two  per  cent,  of  the  live  weight  a 
day  of  hay  or  its  equivalent  to  sustain  life.  A  cow 
weighing  1,000  Ib.  will  require  twenty  pounds  that 
go  to  run  the  machine.  A  cow  weighing  1,500  Ib. 
requires  thirty  pounds  a  day,  ten  pounds  a  day  more 
to  support  that  extra  500  Ib.  of  carcass.  Ten  pounds 
a  day  could  be  put  to  better  use  by  being  fed  to  the 
1,000  Ib.  cow.  Ten  pounds  a  day  is  3,500  Ib.  a  year, 
or  one  and  three-quarters  tons  of  hay  or  its  equiva- 
lent. At  $12  a  ton  this  equals  $20  a  year,  just  to 
support  that  extra  500  Ib.  of  carcass  that  is  no  earthly 
use  to  the  cow  or  owner  until  she  goes  to  the  block. 
A  1,500  Ib.  cow  must  yield  $20  a  year  more  than  a 
1,000  Ib.  cow  to  pay  as  well,  all  other  things  being 
equal.  This  is  no  fancy  sketch.  It  is  a  question 


Feeding  Ensilage.  237 

easily  demonstrated,  and  when  a  breeder  or  a  dairy- 
man begins  culling  out  his  cattle  to  those  that  pay 
the  best  for  the  amount  of  food  consumed,  he  will, 
as  a  rule,  discard  more  cows  that  weigh  over  1,000 
Ib.  than  under.  So  much  for  feeding.  No  rule  can 
be  given.  Each  cow  must  answer  for  herself. 

COST  OF  PRODUCTION. 

On  this  subject  there  is  a  very  wide  difference  in 
the  estimates  sent  into  the  agricultural  papers,  all 
the  way  from  30  cents  to  $2.00  per  ton.  I  may  give 
the  following  as  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  cost 
of  growing  and  harvesting  one  acre,  producing 
thirty  tons,  which  is  a  very  good  yield,  and  a  very 
good  day's  work  to  harvest  it: 

Plowing,  seeding,  cultivating $5-  oo 

Seed,  twelve  quarts,  60  cents  per  bushel 25 

Harvesting,  three  laborers  in  the  field 3.00 

Three  laborers  at  silo 3.00 

One  engineer,  engine  and  fuel 5.00 

At  thirty  tons  per  acre $16. 25 

This  makes  a  cost  of  54  cents  per  ton,  to  which 
should  be  added,  if  you  wish  to  get  at  the  full  cost : 

Brought  forward $16. 25 

Manure,  estimated 5.00 

Use  of  three  teams,  one  cutting,  two  hauling,  say 5.00 

Use  of  grounds 5-°° 

Use  of  tools  and  silo 5.00 

$30.25 


238  Ensilage. 

This  brings  the  total  cost  at  about  $1.20  per  ton. 
The  above  does  not  signify  very  much  either  way. 
Some  may  find  my  figures  too  high  and  others  too 
low.  My  ensilage  has  never  cost  me  much  over  50 
cents  per  ton,  as  shown  in  first  table. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 
SOILING  VS.  ENSILAGE. 

COMPARATIVE  VALUE. 

IT  has  been  advocated  by  some  enthusiastic  ensilage 
men  that,  instead  of  soiling  cattle  in  summer,  en- 
silage should  be  fed  the  year  round. 

This  opinion  must  certainly  come  from  enthusiasm, 
for  in  reality  there  are  small  grounds  on  which  to 
sustain  such  an  argument.  I  have  already  said  soil- 
ing is  as  far  ahead  of  ensilaging  as  ensilage  is  ahead 
of  cured  fodder.  First,  there  is  a  loss  of  feeding 
value  in  silage  amounting  to  about  twenty-five  per 
cent.  Second,  soiling  is  more  economical  in  point 
of  extra  labor  (that  many  seem  to  think  is  so  great). 
Soiling  crops  go  direct  from  the  field  to  the  cattle. 

Ensilage  has  to  be  cut  and  deposited  in  the  silo, 
then  taken  out  again.  All  this  labor  is  omitted  in 
case  of  soiling  crops.  Again,  oats  and  peas,  barley, 
rye,  the  clovers,  are  more  nearly  a  perfect  feed  in 
the  green  state  than  corn,  even  before  it  has  lost 
twenty-five  per  cent,  of  its  feeding  value  in  the  silo. 

Again,  the  change  from  silage  to  fresh-cut  oats 
and  peas,  for  instance,  is  a  very  welcome  change, 
and  has  never,  in  my  experience,  failed  to  increase 
the  flow  of  milk.  True,  there  is  a  little  saving  in 


240  Ensilage. 

securing  the  ensilage  at  once,  but  not  as  much  as  is 
imagined. 

There  should  always  be  enough  ensilage  to  more 
than  last  through  the  season.  The  new  crop  can  be 
put  on  top  of  what  is  left  without  the  slightest  in- 
jury to  either. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
CONCLUSION. 

SYSTEM. 

THERE  is  one  thing  especially  necessary  in  con- 
ducting the  soiling  system  successfully.  It  is  not 
capital  as  some  might  suppose,  for  men  without  capi- 
tal are  usually  the  first  to  adopt  it.  It  is  also  un- 
necessary that  a  man  should  have  a  large  farm 
stocked  and  equipped,  because  the  system  is  equally 
well  adapted  to  a  limited  number  of  acres. 

Nor  will  only  those  be  successful  who  live  near 
large  cities,  where  land  is  high.  Whatever  may  be 
the  condition  of  the  land,  it  is  safe  to  say  than  the 
amount  of  land  that  will  keep  one  head  by  pasturing 
will  keep  four  or  five  by  soiling.  The  rule  works  as 
well  on  cheap  land  as  on  high-priced  land,  the  latter 
not  being  necessarily  more  productive  than  the 
former.  Therefore,  if  from  land  worth  $25  per 
acre,  a  farmer  sells  as  many  dollars'  worth  of  prod- 
uce as  on  land  near  the  city  worth  $200  per  acre, 
the  soiling  system  is  as  profitable  to  the  one  as  to 
the  other.  The  difference  in  the  profit  from  soiling 
will  be  found  from  the  productiveness  of  the  soil, 
and  not  necessarily  in  the  price  of  the  land.  If  on 
a  farm  worth  $100  per  acre  a  farmer  can  keep  one 
16 


242  Ensilage. 

cow  one  year  from  an  acre  of  land,  and  another, 
whose  farm  on  account  of  its  location,  is  worth  $200 
per  acre,  but  is  only  capable  of  keeping  one  cow  a 
year  upon  two  to  five  acres,  the  profit  in  soiling  is 
greatly  in  favor  of  the  farmer  with  the  cheaper  land, 
so  far  as  keeping  cows  is  concerned. 

This  is  mentioned  because  it  is  so  often  stated  that 
"it  may  pay  to  soil  where  the  land  is  high-priced," 
and  to  show  that  the  price  of  land  is  not  a  sure  indi- 
cation that  soiling  will  be  found  successful  in  pro 
portion  to  its  cash  value.  We  can  imagine,  however^ 
a  farmer,  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances, 
failing  to  obtain  satisfactory  results  from  soiling,  for 
the  want  of  system. 

Without  system  a  farmer  may  soon  become  dis- 
heartened, and  pronounce  the  whole  thing  impracti- 
cable; for  instance,  by  omitting  to  sow  at  the 
proper  time,  or  the  proper  amount.  Sowing  too 
much  at  a  time,  the  stock  are  unable  to  consume  it 
in  its  most  succulent  state,  continuing  to  feed  unti1 
it  becomes  tough,  when  it  is  only  eaten  to  satisfy  in. 
tense  hunger.  By  having  too  little,  his  cows  must 
be  turned  into  the  field  until  the  next  crop  is  in 
condition,  thus  causing  him  to  become  dissatisfied. 

Again,  we  can  imagine  a  man  with  plenty  of  feed, 
putting,  at  one  feeding,  sufficient  before  his  cows  to 
last  them  all  day;  they  breathe  upon  it  for  a  few 
hours,  and  nothing  short  of  severe  hunger  will  in- 
duce them  to  take  it,  in  which  case  his  stock  would 
shrink  in  the  flow  of  milk,  and  increase  on  turning 
them  to  pasture,  which  would  lead  him  to  say  that 


Conclusion.  243 

the  cows  did  better  at  pasture,  and  thus  condemn 
the  system. 

Again,  by  not  having  properly  constructed  stables 
or  stalls,  they  might  become  very  filthy  or  unhealthy, 
and  the  cow  would  long  for  "  pleasant  fields  and  pure 
air,"  and  this  might  lead  the  farmer  to  abandon  the 
system. 

Again,  his  manner  of  cutting  and  feeding  might 
require  more  labor  than  the  advocates  of  the  system 
profess,  and  he  might  thus  think  that  the  system 
might  be  well  enough  for  a  farmer  with  plenty  of 
capital,  a  "fancy  farmer,"  a  "book  farmer,"  but  not 
for  him. 

Again,  by  his  undertaking  too  much  at  once,  and 
getting  everything  mixed  up.  The  last  state  of  that 
man  would  be  worse  than  the  first. 

But  by  so  systematizing  the  work  that  every  want 
will  be  supplied,  any  farmer  can  feel  sure  of  success. 
He  need  not  necessarily  follow  the  plan  in  detail  that 
is  laid  down  in  the  previous  pages,  for  it  is  not  so 
perfect  but  that  it  may  be  improved.  If  closely 
followed,  the  system  will  lead  to  success ;  therefore, 
I  may  be  pardoned  for  saying  that  until  he  learns 
by  actual  experience  a  better  way,  the  beginner  is 
advised  to  adhere  to  the  plan  pointed  out  in  all 
its  essential  points.  Many  things  that  looked  as  if 
they  would  result  in  improvements,  when  put  to  the 
test,  will  be  found  wanting.  The  principal  requis- 
ite to  success  by  soiling  is  system. 

The  work  of  sowing,  cutting,  and  feeding  should 
all  be  placed  in  the  charge  of  one  person,  who  can 


244  Ensilage. 

be  relied  upon  to  do  the  work  as  directed ;  and  when 
the  daily  routine  is  once  established,  it  will  be  found 
much  less  laborious  than  it  seems  to  be.  The  labor 
is  comparatively  light;  it  may  be  performed  by  a 
stout  boy  where  the  number  of  cows  does  not  exceed 
twenty-five  head,  but  nothing  should  be  left  to 
chance. 

When  the  proper  time  comes  for  sowing,  the  work 
must  be  done.  The  cutting  must  also  be  attended 
to  when  the  crop  is  ready.  The  feeding  also  must 
be  regular  and  uniform  in  quantity. 

With  a  little  practice,  and  if  a  person  is  not  entirely 
destitute  of  ability  to  work  systematically,  he  can- 
not easily  fail  of  conducting  the  soiling  system  with 
profit,  and  also  to  enjoy  the  many  advantages  which 
it  affords.  I  have  never  heard  of  a  man  who  hav- 
ing once  thoroughly  adopted  the  system,  was  not, 
ever  afterward,  decidedly  pronounced  in  its  favor. 

EDUCATION. 

As  Mr.  Stewart  says,  in  conducting  the  soiling 
system  successfully,  "the  need  is  more  for  head 
work  than  for  hand  work." 

I  believe  that  he  might  have  extended  the  remark 
to  every  branch  of  agriculture,  especially  where  the 
price  of  land  is  necessarily  high.  The  day  has  gone 
by  in  the  older  States  when  a  man  can  follow  farm- 
ing, because  he  does  not  know  enough  to  do  any- 
thing else.  It  may  be  done  in  the  West,  where 
land  may  be  had  for  the  asking,  and  so  productive 


Conclusion.  245 

that  by  "the  slightest  effort  it  will  produce  an 
abundant  harvest ; "  but  in  the  East  it  is  not  only 
essential  that  the  farmer  should  possess  a  knowledge 
of  how  to  produce  a  crop  from  the  soil,  but  how  to 
leave  the  soil  in  as  good  condition  as  before  the  crop 
was  taken,  or  better.  This,  in  my  opinion,  is  good 
farming ;  while  he  who  harvests  a  crop  at  the  expense 
of  the  soil  is  not  a  true  husbandman. 

Farming  is  an  honorable  profession,  but  he  who 
tries  to  obtain  by  it  something  for  nothing  is  never 
a  credit  to  his  profession.  There  seems  to  be  among 
some  classes  of  farmers  a  great  antipathy  to  what 
they  term  book  farmers.  Why  may  every  other 
man  learn  what  pertains  to  the  advancement  of 
his  business  from  books,  and  not  the  farmer?  We 
point  with  pride  to  this  man  or  that  man  in  the 
medical  profession,  and  say  that  he  is  a  well-read 
physician;  to  a  lawyer,  and  say  that  he  is  a  well- 
read  attorney ;  to  a  citizen,  and  say  that  he  is  the 
best-read  man  in  the  place.  These  are  chosen  and 
preferred  for  their  learning,  and  their  excellence  is 
measured  by  the  number  of  books  they  have  mas- 
tered. 

Again,  why  should  farmers  subscribe  for  two  or 
more  papers  devoted  to  politics,  religion,  or  science, 
and  read  them  diligently,  papers  devoted  to  every 
subject  but  one?  Why  purchase  books  of  fiction, 
books  pertaining  to  all  subjects  but  one,  and  that 
one  his  own  business?  Why  does  he  consult  his 
neighbor  as  to  his  methods  of  growing  a  certain 
crop,  and  follow  his  example,  when,  if  the  neighbor 


246  Ensilage. 

should  write  out  his  experience  in  book  form,  it 
would  be  denounced  as  book  farming?  Whence  do 
farmers'  sons  get  the  idea  that,  as  soon  as  they  ob- 
tain an  education,  there  is  no  use  for  it  on  the 
farm?  They  are  sent  to  school,  taught  chemistry, 
botany,  engineering,  and  surveying,  but  from  their 
fathers'  examples  they  have  learned  to  think  that 
such  an  education  may  do  well  enough  for  a  book- 
keeper or  a  dry-goods  clerk,  but  to  apply  such 
knowledge  to  an  agricultural  pursuit  is  all  wrong; 
it  is  book  farming,  and  yet  it  is  knowledge  that  can 
be  put  to  practical  use  on  the  farm. 

Do  farmers  mean  to  acknowledge  that  their  pro- 
fession requires  less  intelligence  than  others? 

What  is  there  in  farming  that  requires  a  man  to 
be  ignorant?  Must  a  farmer,  in  getting  on  in  the 
world,  move  backward  like  a  crab,  or  as  Mark  Twain 
says  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Azores  Islands,  among 
whom  all  efforts  to  introduce  new  and  improved 
methods  of  farming  have  failed:  "The  peasants 
crossed  themselves,  and  prayed  to  God  to  shield 
them  from  all  blasphemous  desire  to  know  more 
than  their  fathers  did  before  them  "? 

These  questions  I  will  leave  the  reader  to  solve. 
However,  I  will  venture  to  suggest  as  a  remedy,  a 
better  education  for  the  future  farmer.  The  great 
problem  of  feeding  and  clothing  the  millions  de- 
pends upon  the  success  of  agriculture,  and  requires 
of  its  followers  a  knowledge  that  embraces  a  wider 
and  more  liberal  education  than  any  other  pursuit. 

Said  the  late  President  Garfield :  "  At  the  head  of 


Conclusion.  247 

all  the  sciences  and  arts,  at  the  head  of  civilization 
and  progress,  stands,  not  militarism,  the  science 
that  kills,  not  commerce,  the  art  that  accumulates 
wealth,  but  agriculture,  the  mother  of  all  industry 
and  the  maintainer  of  human  life." 


FARMERS'  SONS. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  agriculture  at  the  pres- 
ent time  has  much  to  discourage  the  farmers'  sons 
and  daughters ;  but  the  outlook  for  the  near  future 
is  brighter.  Soon  our  government  lands  will  all 
be  given  away.  At  no  distant  day,  the  cities,  at  the 
present  rate  of  increase  (compared  with  agricul- 
ture), will  consume  all  our  own  farm  products. 
This  day  is  hastening  on  like  a  candle  burning  at 
both  ends;  the  Government  burning  at  one  end,  the 
Western  immigrant  farmers,  who  are  rapidly  reduc- 
ing the  fertility  of  their  land,  are  hastening  the 
good  time  from  the  other  end.  There  is  surely  a 
good  time  coming.  A  day  is  dawning  when  agri- 
culture will  once  more  take  rank,  as  she  deserves, 
among  the  noblest  and  highest  professions. 

Let  me  admonish  you  to  stick  to  the  old  farm  a 
little  longer,  and  try  soiling. 


University  of  California 

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